


Before We Got Here

by LlamaCow



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: All relationships that don't include Seungkwan are a bit in the background, Break Up, College, Fluff, Get Together, High School, LOOOOOOONG, M/M, Seungkwan is the main character, Slow Burn, more relationships will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 97
Words: 162,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22697644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LlamaCow/pseuds/LlamaCow
Summary: The story of Boo Seungkwan and all the ups and downs that he went through to finally get to this day. His wedding day. The story begins in high school and continues through to college. He will meet all of the people who will become such an important part of his life and all the experiences they share. First loves, crushes and crushed hearts, short lived romances and long-term relationships alike. Buckle up, because it's a long rollercoaster ride.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Boo Seungkwan/Kim Mingyu, Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Seokmin | DK, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Seokmin | DK
Comments: 638
Kudos: 261





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for MONTHS and it's nowhere near finished, but I have a good number of chapters pre-written, so I've decided to finally start posting, but a few notes before we can start:  
> -Currently I'm planning to update twice a week for as long as possible  
> -I've left the location somewhat ambiguous on purpose because a lot of this story takes place in high school and college, but I'm not following any countries actual education system (for example, in this fic the school year runs from august/september to may/june) which I know isn't the case in Korea, but I don't imagine them speaking English if that makes sense??  
> -EDIT: High School here is three years (like in some countries such as Korea and Japan), so while Seungkwan is in his first year, if this would be a four year system like in the US he'd be a sophomore I guess.  
> -This will be LONG and a lot will happen  
> -Please note that:  
> couples will break-up, maybe get back together, maybe not. Some of the relationships tagged will be platonic (but I've tagged them to keep it more interesting?). I will add new relationships as they are published to prevent some spoilers.  
> -I understand it might be frustrating to start a fic only to find out later that your fav couple breaks up and doesn't recover, so I am willing to give out spoilers to whoever wants them (but please don't make it public in case some people want to be surprised). Just DM me on my twitter @ boo_dori  
> -Some members won't show up for a long time  
> -also this fic will feature underage characters who are sexually active, but I will NOT write about it explicitly. (Let's be honest here, teenagers have sex, so will the teenagers in this story, but the focus will be on how it's part of their story/personal history and development)  
> -chapters will probably be between 700 and 2000 words each (sometimes closer to 700, sometimes closer to 2000)

Seungkwan was standing in front of a tall mirror, carefully going over every detail of his outfit. Today it had to be perfect. Today was one of the most important days of his life. Today was his wedding day. It felt almost surreal that it had finally come. So much had happened from the time that he first met his soon-to-be husband and now. Meeting all of the people who would become such an important part of his life and all the experiences they had shared. First loves, crushes and crushed hearts, short lived romances and long-term relationships alike. Some of them he had met in high school, others when he was in college, but they all meant the world to him.

He finally decided that his clothes, his hair and his face wouldn't get any better than they were now and he stepped away from the mirror. He took a deep breath. There was no doubt in his mind that this was what he wanted, but he couldn't completely get rid of that jittery feeling of anticipation mixed with a hint of nerves.

He heard the door open behind him, but he didn't turn to see who it was. Strong arms wrapped around him from behind and he felt a soft kiss being pressed against his neck. His lips curled up into a smile, “Isn't it bad luck if we see each other before the wedding?”

“Only if someone is wearing a wedding dress.” His fiancee whispered in his ear.

Seungkwan chuckled, “I haven't done something like that since high school, so I think we're good.” He turned around and took the other man by the hand. He led them to the mirror and stared at their reflection, “Look at us. We're really doing it, huh?”

“Looks like it.”

“It sure took us long enough before we got here.”

“But we got here and that's all that matters.” He wrapped himself around him again and leaned his head on his shoulder. “Nervous?”

“Not really.” Seungkwan replied as he tilted his head so they could touch, “We've got the best wedding planners in town. I'm most nervous about you messing up your vows or something.”

“We're supposed to say vows?”

Seungkwan untangled himself from his arms and huffed, “I swear if you-”

His fiancee held up his hands in defense, “I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I even wrote them down in case I get so overwhelmed by my love for you and I can't remember what I was going to say.” he said and he patted his front pocket.

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes at him, “You're better not being sarcastic.”

“I wouldn't dare.” He placed his hands on Seungkwan's hips, “Ready for me to be your husband?”

“Just as ready as I am to be yours.” He stared into his loving eyes and almost started to drown. He gently removed the hands that were on his hips, “Can you please get out of here now, so I don't give into temptation? If I kiss you now it'll take away the magic from out first kiss as a married couple later.”

“Fine, I'll go.” He answered and walked to the door. Before he opened he turned back to look at Seungkwan and said, “You're wrong, by the way. Every time I kiss you is like magic, so it wouldn't have mattered.”

Seungkwan scoffed a little at the statement, “I can't believe I'm marrying you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Carat Day! It felt like the right day to start posting this Mt.Everest of a fic.  
> Please do leave a comment if you want, I greatly appreciate it.  
> Also feel free to follow me on the bird app @ boo_dori  
> And again: if you don't feel like starting this fic without knowing who certain characters will end up with and you want to get spoiled send me a DM, lol. 
> 
> Who will Boo Seungkwan marry~


	2. HS1-1 First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan has to settle into a new school. He's not off to a great start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (me: I'm going to post on Tuesdays and Fridays. Also me: posts on Saturdays)  
> Okay, so...I know different countries have different high school systems, but here high school will be three years~  
> The chapter title 'HS1-1" means High School year 1 chapter 1. I wasn't kidding when I said this was going to be long btw, lol.

Seungkwan was standing in front of the mirror. Partly to make sure that he looked all right, partly to look himself in the eye and tell himself that he could do this. He wasn't exactly looking forward to his first day at a new high school. He and his mom just moved to this town and the school year was already well on it's way. Cliques would have formed, pecking orders established. As if dealing with his parents divorce wasn't enough, he now had to deal with finding his place in the high school hierarchy for the second time in two months.

He went over the do's and don'ts he had come up with to survive this day, in his head.

**Don't** introduce yourself as 'Nice to meet you. My name is Boo Seungkwan and I'm gay.”

**Don't** be a wise-ass or know-it-all during class.

**Don't** eat lunch by yourself.

**Do** be yourself, but not too much. Test the waters.

**Do** try to become friends with the people you sit next to in class.

**Do** join some clubs for instant social connections and academic elevation.

He took a deep breath and one last look in the mirror. Time to do this.

He was scheduled to meet his new homeroom teacher before the start of class, so he arrived at school rather early. It was still quiet in the halls. A bit creepy, really. His homeroom teacher seemed nice enough. A man somewhere in his early fifties, a bit stern looking, but not unfriendly. He gave Seungkwan his schedule and a copy of the school rules before he gave him a quick tour.

“And here's the club and special events announcement board.” He explained as they walked by a large notice board with lots of papers attached to it, “Our school requires all students to join a club, but it is encouraged to challenge yourself and join at least two. Most clubs only accept new members at the beginning of the year, but I'm sure they're willing to make an exception seeing as you just transferred. If you run into any trouble finding a suitable club just let me know.”

Seungkwan nodded in understanding. “Don't worry, sir. I'll be sure to get right on it!” He had already taken the liberty of checking the list of clubs this school had and had already decided where he wanted to join.

“Good, good.” his teacher replied without much real interest in his voice and he checked his watch. “Right, well, I need to prepare for my own class so I'm going to leave you to it. Just tell the teacher of your first class who you are and they'll introduce you to the class, all right?”

Seungkwan wasn't so sure that he would be, but he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

His teacher put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, “I know it's a lot when you just moved to a new town and you have to join when the year has already started, but you'll be okay. At least our school is boys only.” He laughed, but Seungkwan wasn't sure what the joke was. It must have read on his face because the teacher explained, “I know your last school was co-ed, but here you won't have to worry about girls distracting you from your studies.”

Seungkwan almost scoffed at this remark which was stupid for several reasons, but managed to stop himself in time. He just nodded with an awkward smile. His teacher slapped him on the shoulder and laughed again. Seungkwan was glad when he left him alone. Although he had been right. It would definitely take some getting used to being at a school with just boys. But that was a worry for later because the halls were starting to fill with students and the bell would ring soon.

A few minutes later Seungkwan stood awkwardly at the front of the class. All eyes on him. “So, ehm,” he started, “My name is Boo Seungkwan,” he pretended not to hear the snickers of laughter that his unusual family name elicited from his new classmates, “I just moved to this town and I'm g-...greatly honored to be here and meet all of you.” _Wow, way to make a first lame impression_ he thought to himself.

“Okay, thank you Seungkwan.” the teacher said and Seungkwan was grateful that he wasn't expected to say anything else. “We don't have a lot of empty desks, but you can sit down over there at that one next to Mingyu.”

Seungkwan started to make his way to the back of the class and as he did so he felt the stares of the others in the room following him to his seat. Why did some of them look at him as if he was going off to war or something. It was probably just his imagination. He arrived at the desk, one row from the back. There was one desk between him and the wall and it was occupied by a very handsome boy who looked uncomfortably tall for his desk. He leaned in and whispered, “ _Hi, I'm Seungkwan. You_ _'_ _r_ _e_ _Mingyu, right?_ ”

Instead of replying the handsome boy looked him up and down and turned his head away in disinterest.

“Rude...” Seungkwan mumbled to himself and tried not to think too much of it.

As it turned out this school had a slightly different curriculum than his old school and luck would have it that he had already covered the current topic. Although, it probably would have been better if he hadn't. Seungkwan couldn't help himself from raising his hand in the air whenever he knew the answer. By the time the bell rang Seungkwan was sure the whole class thought he was an insufferable know-it-all. So far keeping to his dos and don'ts list wasn't going great.

He purposely waited until most of the others boys had left the classroom to check his school map. He didn't want to look like a lost idiot trying to find his locker. But when he was done and got up to leave he noticed that he wasn't the last person left like he had thought. The boy who sat at the desk right behind Mingyu's had one of his arms splayed out and was resting his head on it. He seemed to be asleep. Seungkwan sighed. He never liked people who fell asleep during class. Seungkwan picked up one of his books. The whole class probably already didn't like him, so what was one more? His book landed on the sleeping boy's desk with a loud thud. It was more effective than the bell had been, because the boy groaned and lifted his head.

“Oh, I'm so sorry!” Seungkwan said to him, “Class is over by the way. I suggest you wake up.” The sleeping beauty (damn, Seungkwan hadn't expected him to be a sleeping _beauty_ indeed), stared up at him with a blank expression. Taken aback by this silent gaze Seungkwan decided that it was best to bolt. He quickly made his way to his locker and put some of his books inside. He was surprised to find Mingyu doing the same next to him. Seungkwan decided to give it one more shot. First impressions weren't everything. “Oh, what a coincidence. We're not just classroom neighbors!” he said with a smile and a slight chuckle.

Mingyu didn't smile back, “Don't talk to me.” Without saying anything else he walked away. Seungkwan clicked his tongue and closed his locker. He saw a few boys from his class staring at him and whispering. He decided to let it go. He made his way over to the announcement board to check out some club information and found exactly what he had been hoping to find. After the next class he would have a free study period and he knew exactly what he would do with his time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love <3 
> 
> Next time Seungkwan is going to join a club~


	3. HS1-2 Music Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan joins the music club and meets some interesting people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...since my head is refusing to properly write the epilogue for my other fic (Don't Call) and because I can't resist posting more because I feel like the story starts to really take off in a few chapters (the first few are more...setting the scene) I've decided to post another chap~ (My original plan was Tuesday/Friday updates, and technically it's already Tuesday here so...)

Seungkwan stood before a closed door with _Music Club_ written on it and knocked before he opened it. He was a little bit nervous, but mostly excited. He loved music and thought it was a great way to connect to people. He went inside and was greeted by four confused faces staring back at him.

“Yes?” One boy with a guitar in his hands asked.

Seungkwan put on his biggest smile and started his self-introduction like he had practiced in his head. “Hi, my name is Boo Seungkwan. I'm new to this school and-”

“Are you lost?” The boy interrupted him. He stood up, he wasn't very tall, shorter than Seungkwan, but there was a kind of intimidating aura about him as he looked him up and down with eyes that were hard to read.

“Not if this is the music club. It said so on the door.” Seungkwan replied still with a smile plastered on his face. He was determined to make a good impression on at least _someone_ today.

“Well...yes it is.” One of the other boys, small guitar or maybe a ukelele in hand, replied.

“I saw on the announcement board that you're looking for new members?”

The handsome boy with the ukelele looked questioning to a third boy, sitting on the side of the room. If possible, he was even more handsome. No, handsome wasn't exactly the right word, he was glowing like a Greek statue. But Seungkwan wasn't here for any of that. He could care less what these people looked like. He just needed to get into their club. The music club at his old school had been quite popular and they held auditions at the beginning of the year. Seungkwan wondered if this club would have the same high standards.

“Oh yeah, I put that up at the beginning of the school year but you're the first one to actually show up.”

Maybe not. This is when Seungkwan started to consider that maybe these were in fact _all_ of the music club members.

“What can you do?” The short one asked with a tone of impatience in his voice.

“I can sing and-”

“Okay, sing for us then.”

“Jihoon, stop being yourself for a second and treat our guest with some courtesy please.” the Greek statue spoke. “It wouldn't exactly be a bad thing to get another member. We're lucky to even be an actual club at this point.”

Jihoon, as he was apparently called, sighed and sat back down. He placed his guitar next to him and crossed his arms. “Fine. Sing for us. Please. I'm on the edge of my seat. Can't wait to be blown away by your vocals.”

Seungkwan knew he was being sarcastic, but he also knew that he could sing quite well and he wasn't going to let this guy shake his confidence so easily.

Jihoon _had_ been sarcastic and definitely hadn't expected to be actually blown away by this fluffy looking kid, but as Seungkwan's singing filled the room an approving smirk appeared on his face.

“Well, fuck. You're in new kid.”

The others nodded in agreement.

Seungkwan's face lit up, “Really? Thank you so much!”

The Greek statue glided over to him and put his arm around his shoulder, “No, thank you! Seungkwan was it? My name is Jeonghan.” He used the arm he had around him to jerk him around as he introduced the other members of the music club, “This here is our trusty leader, Jihoon. He's mostly bark and very little bite...” Still sitting with his arms crossed Jihoon scoffed, but also gave Seungkwan a little friendly nod. “This ray of sunshine is Seokmin, amazing vocals just like you...” Seokmin smiled and Seungkwan could swear the room became brighter. “And finally we have our ukelele boy Jisoo.” Jisoo shook his head, but smiled at Seungkwan.

“Please stop introducing me to people as 'ukelele boy'. It sounds weird.” He said to Jeonghan.

“That's why it fits you perfectly.” He replied. He leaned in and added with a whisper in Seungkwan's ear, “He might look normal, but he's one of the weirdest people you'll ever meet.”

Seungkwan chuckled nervously, not sure what to do with that statement. “So, ehm, now what?”

Jisoo walked over to a small desk placed against the wall and pulled out a piece of paper from its drawer that he handed to Seungkwan, “Here. You need to fill this out and hand it in at the student administration so they'll know you've joined the club. We're not too strict about our schedule, but we do try to meet up regularly.”

“Okay, I'll go do it right away!” Seungkwan exclaimed in all his excitement. This music club might me a lot smaller than at his last school, but they all seemed nice and he couldn't wait to make some music.

“Wait! Give us your phone-number. I'll add you to our club group chat.” Jeonghan said before Seungkwan could take off.

As soon as Seungkwan left he already felt his phone buzz.

**<** **MC Angel** has added you to **Talent** **>**

“ _MC Angel?_ ” Seungkwan thought to himself. He figured that must be Jeonghan seeing as he was the group's admin. He checked the other names. MC Hoon. MC Ukelele Boy. MC Sunshine. His own name was still, very boring, Seungkwan.

===

“I'm going to change the new kid's chat name. He said his name was _Boo_ Seungkwan, right? I know the perfect name for him.”

Jisoo, who was looking over Jeonghan's shoulder, spoke up, “Jeonghan, no. You cannot name him _MC Booty_.”

“Why not?”

“Because, you freak,” Jihoon continued in Jisoo's stead, “you'll make him uncomfortable.”

“Why?”

“Maybe because we've met him for like ten minutes and you're already referring to his ass?”

Jeonghan sighed, “Fine, fine. I'll just make him MC Kwan or something.”

“By the way...” Seokmin said, “...shouldn't we have warned him that the rest of the school thinks we're super lame and that joining the music club is basically social suicide?”

“If we told him that he might not want to join, now would he?” Jeonghan gave Seokmin a gentle pat on the head, “Don't worry, Minnie. I have a feeling that he will fit in well with our little merry band of gays and whatnots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Yay some people who are nice to Seungkwan (well...I mean...if you ignore Jihoon's initial attitude towards him)  
> -Seungkwan is off to join another club next time ft. the sleeping beauty lol (and an NCT member makes a cameo appearance)  
> -All that Talent in one group chat. Amazing.
> 
> Thanks to everyone so far who has shown interest in this story~


	4. HS1-3 Basketball Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan joins the basketball club and runs into a familiar face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just felt like posting a chapter so...here it is!

The rest of the day went by fairly uneventful. Seungkwan didn't make any more attempts to become friendly with his desk neighbor, he decided it wasn't his responsibility if the sleepy boy behind him got a good education or not, and for the rest of the classes he made sure to keep his mouth shut. He didn't really know any of the answers anyway. Lunch was a bit of a rough patch and it was one more thing he couldn't check off of his dos-and-donts list. But no matter, he had more pressing matters to attend to. The Music Club wasn't the only club he wanted to join.

Seungkwan figured it would look good on his record if he joined a variety of clubs and sports were always highly regarded. During middle school and the brief period of time he was at his old high school he had been an active members of the school's volleyball team. Unfortunately this new school didn't have one. They did have a basketball team, however, and he was quite good at that too. Good enough to join a high school club for it at least.

He had found a schedule for the gym listing which clubs had it reserved for the week and luck would have it that the basketball club had a training session after school today. Might as well get that first awkward moment out of the way.

He walked into the gym and it didn't look like they had really started yet. Most of them were standing around talking to each other or casually throwing a ball back and forth. He also spotted the sleeping boy from his class sitting on the side. He was wearing a uniform so he must be part of the club. Great.

Seungkwan approached two boys who looked older than him and cheerfully greeted them. “Hi, I'm Seungkwan and I'd like to try out for the basketball club. I understand you usually only accept new members at the beginning of the year, but seeing as I just transferred here I was hoping you'd make an exception.”

The two boys looked him over, then looked at each other, and back to him. “Didn't you join the music club?” One of them asked with scorn in his voice.

Apparently being new stood out more than Seungkwan had thought. “I don't see how that's relevant.” he replied, not losing focus. “The Music Club has a very flexible schedule so it wouldn't intervene with practice or anything.”

“Yeah, well....we don't really have place on our team for someone like you.”

“I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. Can't I just have a try-out? If I suck you don't let me join, if it turns out I'm actually good, which I am, you let me join.”

“Go suck a dick, music boy.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said-” They both got closer to him, but before things could escalate a voice came from the side.

“What's going on here?” A very tall, very handsome, boy with wavy dark brown hair, made his way over to them.

“Captain, I was just telling this new kid that we don't need any more members this late in the year.”

Seungkwan, ignoring the other boy, smiled at the captain, “Hi, my name is Boo Seungkwan and I just transferred here and would like to join the basketball club. All I'm asking for is a try-out. I'm really good.” He wasn't so sure that he was _really_ good, but this was no time to undersell his abilities.

The captain took a basketball from the rack and threw it his way, “All right, fine. You two,” he gestured to the two boys still giving Seungkwan the stink eye, “assist in the try-out, will you.”

One of the boys leaned in to the captain and whispered, loud enough for Seungkwan to overhear, “Johnny, this kid just joined the music club, man.”

The captain, Johnny, looked over at Seungkwan and for a moment Seungkwan was afraid he'd turn him away. Did the music club really have such a bad reputation?

“Stop your bitching and let's go! We have a competition coming up and we don't have time to waste!” He gave a nod to Seungkwan telling him to go ahead.

The boy from his class watched on from the stands as Seungkwan showed what he could do and he snickered at the faces of his two dumb teammates who clearly hadn't been expecting him to pull out those moves. The captain blew his whistle and walked over to Seungkwan. He couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but seeing the way Seungkwan's face lit up he assumed they had a new member.

Seungkwan didn't participate in the training that day. Instead the captain told him to fill in the form and hand it in before the administration office would close for the day and come to the locker room after to receive his uniform. He had just done so and was about to leave the locker room when some of the other boys came out of the showers. He recognized two of the voices as the two boys who didn't want him to even try-out earlier. Seungkwan, in the hopes of avoiding another confrontation, stayed hidden behind the row of lockers where he was standing while they got dressed.

“I can't believe Johnny let him join.” One of the boys said.

“I know...I mean, I guess he was okay, but I'm just worried it's not the basketballs he's interested in.”

Seungkwan was startled by a sudden loud bang of a locker door being slammed shut.

“He was good.” Another boy spoke. Seungkwan didn't know whose voice it was. “What's the problem?”

“Come on, dude. We'll be sharing a locker room with him. What if he like...checks us out or something?”

Seungkwan felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. He had felt like the 'go suck a dick' comment from earlier wasn't just a way to tell him to get out of there. No. They assumed he was gay for whatever reason and didn't like him because of it. At least this one guy didn't seem to care.

“Girls don't wanna check you out, why should a boy be different? Even if he is gay.”

Seungkwan felt a sense of gratitude to the person sticking up for him. He wanted to know who it was and very carefully he peeked around the corner. To his surprise it was his classmate and sleeping beauty. He should really ask him his name tomorrow.

He waited until he was sure everybody had left to let out a long breath he had been holding. It would be a lot harder to fit in with this team than with the music club. That was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -surprise Johnny (from NCT, for those of you who don't know him. He won't have a big role or anything, but here he is)  
> -I feel like everybody already knows who the sleeping beauty is, lol. But since Seungkwan doesn't know his name yet I've decided to not disclose it yet, haha.  
> -Next time we learn a bit more about what's up with Mingyu
> 
> comments are love~


	5. HS1-4 Lunch and Rumors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan is determined not to have lunch by himself again and he hears some rumors surrounding one of his classmates.

It was the second day at his new school. Lunchtime. Seungkwan was determined not to spend another lunch by himself and was standing at the edge of the cafeteria deciding the best course of action. Most of the tables were taken by people he didn't know at all, but there were a few tables with semi-familiar faces (as familiar as they can become in a day and a half) such as some boys from his class that he hadn't spoke to and the basketball team's captain with his friends. But then he spotted one table that seemed like the safest bet if he didn't want to risk getting told to go sit somewhere else. The four boys from the music club. He hadn't really spoken with them since yesterday (he didn't count the waving hand emoji he had sent to the group chat), but they seemed nice enough. Slowly he approached their table. Jihoon was the first to notice him. He nudged Seokmin who was sitting next to him and gestured to the bag placed on one of the chairs. Seokmin looked up at Seungkwan and immediately the corners of his mouth curled up into a bright smile. He removed the bag to open up the seat for Seungkwan.

“Thanks.” Seungkwan said as he sat down. “I hope I'm not intruding or anything.”

“Don't be silly.” Jeonghan (a.k.a. MC Angel) replied. “Plenty of room.”

Seokmin nodded, but added, “Although you're lucky to catch us all together! We don't always all eat in the cafeteria. But if you can't find us we're probably somewhere else.”

Seungkwan stared at him trying to figure out if that was supposed to be some mysterious riddle or if he just didn't realize that he just said something less than intelligent. Seokmin's innocent smile suggested the latter. Seungkwan didn't have it in him to point out to him that, yeah, if you're not here you're somewhere else. So he just smiled back. “Right. Well, thanks for letting me sit with you today anyway. I haven't really had much luck making friends with anyone in my class...”

“Although you are more than welcome to join us whenever you want, it kinda sucks that you haven't made any friends in your class yet.” Jisoo spoke. “Me and Jeonghan are lucky enough to be in the same class, final year. Jihoon and Seokmin are also together, one year below us. So I guess one year above you.” he explained further.

Seungkwan nodded to show he had taken in the information given to him and let out a short sigh, “Well...I'll try to find some friends in my own grade as well, but so far I'm pretty sure everybody thinks I'm super lame and best to be avoided.” A flash of yesterday's events in the locker room shot through his mind. Maybe not everybody.

Unnoticed by Seungkwan all the members of the music club shared looks between them.

“The guy next to me sure doesn't like me!” Seungkwan kept on talking unaware of the slight tension now hanging around the table, “His locker is also next to mine, but the only thing he has said to me so far is ' _don't talk to me_ _'_. Isn't that rude? Just because he's all tall and handsome and has this kinda scary aura around him doesn't mean he should just ignore people. I was only trying to be nice!”

“Wait, did you say tall and handsome with a scary aura? Don't tell me...” Jeonghan looked around the cafeteria and spotted who he was looking for, “...it's not that guy, is it?” He asked as he pointed in the direction of a table that only had one person sitting at it. And that one person was in fact who Seungkwan had been talking about. Mingyu.

“Dude, don't point at him!” Seokmin squealed and pulled down Jeonghan's hand, “What if he sees us!”

Seungkwan raised his eyebrows, surprised at Seokmin's slightly panicked reaction, but turned it into a frown when he continued talking, “Oh yeah, that's him. What's up with that guy? Do any of you know him?”

“We know _of_ him.” Jihoon answered vaguely.

“All I know is that he transferred here from another district because he got kicked out of his old school.” Jisoo answered.

“Why?”

“We don't know.”

“I heard he had a knife.” Seokmin whispered.

“I heard he stabbed someone.” Jihoon added.

“I heard-” Jeonghan started before he was cut off by Jisoo.

“Most people are scared of him or at least avoid him. Although most of those rumors are probably just that. Rumors. Probably.”

“Anyway,” Jeonghan said, “He had to repeat the year. That's why he's in your grade.”

“Oh...” Seungkwan glanced over at Mingyu again, sitting alone at his table staring at his food. He didn't really look all that dangerous, but seeing as he seemed to dislike Seungkwan anyway he figured it wouldn't be too hard to avoid interacting with him.

Seungkwan hesitated before he started talking again, but something was bothering him and for some reason he felt like he could talk to these boys about it, “Guys...can I ask you something else?”

“Of course, Seungkwan” Jeonghan replied first.

“Do I look...gay, to you?” He didn't meet any of their eyes, but he knew they had heard him despite the low volume he was talking in.

“W-why would you say that?” Seokmin chuckled nervously.

“Well....yesterday when I went to try-out for the basketball club two of the guys told me that there was no place for 'people like me' and that I should go suck a dick. And I was just wondering if I come across as super gay or something.”

“I wouldn't say _super_ gay.” Jeonghan replied in a way that was probably supposed to be comforting.

“Seungkwan...” Jisoo said with a bit more sympathy in his voice, “it might be our fault that they think you're gay. Maybe we should have told you that one of the reasons most people kind of avoid the music club is because they think we're all gay. This school isn't the most open-minded of places.”

“Oh. I see.” Seungkwan replied, not sure what else to say. But then his curiosity compelled him to ask his next question, “Are you?”

“Does it matter?” Jihoon asked as he kept his eyes locked onto him.

“N-no. Not really.” Seungkwan replied right away. He didn't want to offend anyone, but he wanted to know just how okay they would be with Seungkwan being gay. Them being gay too would make things a whole lot easier.

The other boys all looked at each other and nodded before Jeonghan started to explain, “We're all some sort of non-straight. Me and Jihoon are gay, Jisoo is bi, and Seokmin is...figuring things out.”

Seungkwan looked around the table and with that revelation figured it was safe. “I...I'm gay too.”

“HA!” Jeonghan exclaimed excited, a little bit louder than he had intended and he had to remind himself that they were still in the cafeteria surrounded by other people. “I told you!” he said in a more hushed voice, “Jisoo was all like ' _we can't just assume he's gay_ ' but my gaydar is pretty good.”

“So what...all the gays at this school just join the music club?” Seungkwan asked.

“Nah, there are a few rogue ones roaming around. Some of them closer than you think.”

“What does that mean?”

Just at that moment the bell rang and Jeonghan stood up right away, “Oh shit, I still have to get books from my locker. I'll see you guys later.”

The rest also got up, Seungkwan included. As they made their way out of the cafeteria Jisoo walked next to Seungkwan, “I hope you can connect with some people in your class, but if you do want to hang out with us and we're not here just use the group chat, okay? The music club really is just our little friend group so don't worry about only talking about club related things in there.”

Seungkwan smiled and nodded. Suddenly he cared a lot less about making friends in his own class.

“By the way,” Jisoo continued, “you mentioned that you joined the basketball club earlier, right?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“Have you thought about adding a study club to your resume? I'm president of the English club and you're welcome to join”

“But my English isn't that great to be honest...”

“All the more reason to join, don't you think?”

He hadn't really thought about something such as English club. But he supposed it could be a good idea. With music and basketball he already had arts and sports, adding something a bit more academic would definitely look good and English was probably useful.

“Sure. Why not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Rumors or...did Mingyu really stab someone :o 
> 
> -just fyi I know that irl Seungkwan and Mingyu actually were in the same grade, but here I've put 95 in one grade, squeezed 96 and 97 together in one grade, and 98 in another. So...whatevs   
> -Next one will have some Hansol in it~


	6. HS1-5 English Club / the Rooftop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan joins the English Club and is glad to learn someone else from his class is there too. An unlikely threesome hang out on the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ! This chapter involves a tiny bit of soft drugs (which is another reason I've left the location of this fic somewhat ambiguous since these kind of things are super illegal in some places, but not so much in others, so...I dunno...it just fits the story ^^"")

Seungkwan sat at a table third row from the front in the room that was shared by a few clubs, including English and the debate team. He had actually considered joining the debate team, but he hadn't even planned on joining a third club and he figured three clubs was plenty to keep him busy. Jisoo stood at the front of the class and was trying to get everyone's attention. He greeted the club members with his usual friendly smile before he walked over to where Seungkwan was sitting.

“I'd like to introduce our newest member, Seungkwan. He just moved here so let's help him settle in, okay?”

Seungkwan nodded and smiled, he almost stood up to wave at everyone, but then he remembered he wasn't seven years old. The English club had quite a number of members. Nobody seemed too interested in his presence, but at least he didn't feel the same level of being unwanted as he had in the basketball club.

“All right,” Jisoo continued, in English this time, “let's partner up and study some English!”

He hadn't even really done anything yet but Seungkwan was already feeling overwhelmed by the amount of English and he was not looking forward to embarrassing himself in front of someone who spoke it much better than him. That and probably no-one wanted to partner up with the new kid anyway. Luckily Jisoo spared him at least part of that, “Hansol, why don't you come here and be Seungkwan's partner? I believe you're in the same class.”

Seungkwan perked up at the name. After the locker room defense (or so Seungkwan liked to call the incident in his head) he had been sure to pay close attention during roll call to catch the sleepy boy's name. Of course Hansol wasn't an uncommon name, but Seungkwan was glad that it did in fact turn out to be the boy who sat diagonally behind him in class.

Hansol grabbed a chair and sat down across from him on the other side of the table with a smile, “Are you trying to join every club in the school, new kid?”

“Just the ones I deem worthy of my presence.” Seungkwan joked and apparently it was funny because Hansol laughed. “But you're not really one to talk,” Seungkwan said to him, “You're in multiple clubs yourself. A bit surprising given the fact you seem to sleep through a lot of class.”

Hansol leaned back in his chair and shrugged, his eyes never leaving Seungkwan, “Yeah, well, I enjoy basketball and English is easy for me. Keeps the teachers and parents off my back, you know.”

Seungkwan hummed in response.

“So, how are you liking it here so far?”

“It's okay, I guess.”

“That doesn't sound very enthusiastic.”

Seungkwan sighed, “In case you haven't noticed, nobody in our class talks to me and those boys from the basketball club didn't really want me to join.”

“You didn't have much luck getting seated next to Mingyu, I'll give you that. But don't worry too much about basketball. The captain's cool and those other guys will come around. Jaehyun over there is on the team too. He's alright.”

Seungkwan looked over to where Hansol had looked when mentioning Jaehyun and started to wonder if this school had magical powers that made so many of its students above average levels of handsomeness.

“Oh and you can always talk to me.” Hansol casually added.

“When you're awake.” Seungkwan replied with a teasing smile.

“You didn't seem to have a problem with waking me up before. Don't get shy now.”

They both chuckled. Seungkwan was starting to like talking with Hansol. He seemed very natural somehow. Like nothing he said was fake or forced.

“You joined the music club too, right? At least those guys are nice.”

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow, “You know them?” He found it strange that Hansol would know the members of the music club, all older than him and all avoided by a large part of the student body.

“Yeah, I know Jeonghan and Jihoon. And Jisoo, obviously.”

“How do you know Jeonghan and Jihoon?”

“We hang.”

“You...hang?” This didn't answer anything, but Hansol's only reply was a simple nod and Seungkwan decided not to ask any more questions.

The remaining part of the hour he and Hansol alternated between talking and actually studying English. The study part was mostly just Hansol helping Seungkwan with his pronunciation. By the time it was over Seungkwan had come to the conclusion that he was glad he had joined English club.

_{The Rooftop}_

The next day at lunch time Seungkwan didn't see any of the music club members (nor Hansol for that matter) so he decided to see if they really did hang out in the music room. He found Seokmin and Jisoo, but Jeonghan and Jihoon were nowhere to be found. According to the other two they sometimes disappeared to some place and that seemed to be all the information that was going to be provided.

At the same time on the roof of the school Jeonghan lay on a bench flat on his back with one arm dangling off the side. With his other hand he was holding up a gummy worm. He stared at it, wiggling it around, “This worm is kinda sexy. Just like you, Hoonie.” He let out a sound that was a mix between a giggle and a snort.

“How many have you had? Don't eat too many. I don't want the teachers to get suspicious and take away my edibles.” Jihoon replied and he yanked the candy worm out of Jeonghan's hand only to eat it himself. He sat down with his back against a wall. “Sexy like a worm...weirdo.” But a small smirk was evident on his face.

“So, how's the new member of the music club working out for you?” The third member of their rooftop hangout gang asked.

“Since when are you interested in the music club?” Jihoon asked Hansol.

Jeonghan chuckled, “I don't think it's the club he's interested in, Hoonie.”

“Please, he's just new. It's the most interesting thing that has happened at this school all year.”

“If you say so.” Jeonghan said, not convinced.

“He's actually also in the basketball club and he just joined English.” Hansol continued without reason. He just wasn't done talking about this new kid he couldn't help but be interested in.

“Well, looks like you and him will be spending quite some time together then.”

“We're in the same class, too.”

“You don't say.” Jeonghan replied as if this was new information to him. Jisoo had already told him about how he tried to get Seungkwan some friends in his class by introducing him to Hansol. He probably thought it was innocent like all that, but Jeonghan could see the potential.

“We have basketball practice together later. So I'm skipping your special treat today, Hoon.”

“When is your next match again?” Jihoon asked.

Hansol sighed, “You don't even like basketball, why do you even want to go?”

“School spirit.” Jihoon replied and Jeonghan let out a mocking puff of air.

“As if. It's because there's a lot of tall men in shorts. That's why.”

Jihoon shrugged. Hansol shook his head and sighed. But actually he was sort of amused at the same time, thinking about Jihoon's gloomy figure at a basketball game just there to stare at hot dudes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jihoon has a thing for super tall dudes, ok? (thinking of adding the tag 'Jihoon&tall men')  
> -Hansol was the 'locker room defender' XD  
> -Okay, so I'm actually looking forward to posting the next one, since some big stuff happens :o 
> 
> If you're reading this, please drop me a comment <3


	7. HS1-6 Science Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Seungkwan gets paired with Mingyu for a science project he's willing to give him another chance, but it doesn't quite go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, back again~

The first few weeks of his new high school life had come and gone. Seungkwan couldn't really say if it was better or worse than what he had hoped it would be. He wasn't bullied, but he wasn't exactly winning any popularity contests either. He had gotten pretty close with the members of the music club in such a short time. Perhaps it helped that all of them felt a bit like outcasts of the school hierarchy. They weren't at the bottom, it was more like they were standing on the side of the pyramid, not even bothered to be included.

Seungkwan didn't mind so much during class. He just focused on whatever the teacher was saying and taking notes. Although today was different. Their science teacher just gave them a project assignment. To be done in pairs. He was sure that even if the teacher hadn't told them to partner up with the person sitting next to them, he would have still ended up with Mingyu. Seeing as no-one seemed to want to work with Mingyu and most of them didn't even talk to Seungkwan. He supposed Hansol was sort of an option. They had gotten to know each other a bit through their shared club activities, but he wasn't sure they were at a friend level where Hansol would be willing to risk his reputation by voluntarily partnering up with him.

Either way, it didn't matter. He was stuck with the gloomy mess on his left. After the bell rang Seungkwan stood up with new found determination. If this Mingyu person wasn't going to talk to him, not even when they had to work together, Seungkwan would just do the talking. Mingyu clearly already didn't like him so there was no risk of ruining anything anyway.

While all the other boys of the class hurried away as soon as the last bell of the day rang Mingyu was still sitting at his desk, head resting on his hand and seemingly in no hurry to leave. Seungkwan cleared his throat to get his attention. When Mingyu didn't offer a clear sign that he was listening Seungkwan just started talking regardless. “Mingyu, was it?” he said with the best casually-not-really-interested voice he could come up with, “Whose house are we going to, to work on this project?”

Mingyu slowly turned his head and looked up at him, somewhat taken aback by Seungkwan's direct approach to him, “What?”

“Or do you want to work at it in the school library or something?” _I heard he had a knife_. Just rumors, Seungkwan. Focus! “That's cool too. A bit quiet but-”

“Eh, no a house is fine.” Mingyu replied. His eyes shifted to the side to see if anyone was looking at them, but most kids were already gone and the ones remaining didn't seem to be paying them any mind.  
  


“Okay, cool. Yours or mine?” Seungkwan continued.

“Yours?” It came out more as a question than he had intended, but this was probably the longest conversation he'd had with someone at this school and it was new territory for Mingyu. So far for any pair or group related activities the other boys just did the work for him. He never asked them to, they just did. The extra work apparently worth not having to interact with him.

“Just come to my house around five. I have music club first.” he placed his phone on the desk and shoved it in Mingyu's direction, “Here. Put your number in. I'll send you the address.”

{Music Club}

“Seungkwan, we're going out for coffee or something. Are you coming?” Jisoo asked. They had just finished their club activities for the day. Jihoon had written a new ballad and they had been practicing it. Not sure for what. Not like anyone ever actually asked the music club to perform.

“No, I can't.” Seungkwan replied as he gathered his things, “I have to go work on this science project with Mingyu.”

“Excuse me?” Suddenly all eyes were on Seungkwan.

“I said I have to go work on my science project.”

“With?” Jeonghan asked.

“Mingyu.”

“With Mingyu.” Jihoon repeated after him, slowly.

“Yeah...what's the big deal?”

“It's just...are you _sure_ you're going to work _with_ him?” Seokmin asked hesitantly.

“Yes. He's coming to my house.”

“He's coming to your house.” This time it was Jeonghan who repeated after him.

“Yes. Will you guys stop repeating everything I say! We got partnered up together. So what?”

“So what!? Didn't you hear us last time? All the rumors surrounding that guy...he might be dangerous, Seungkwan!” Seokmin pointed out.

“Exactly.” Seungkwan swung his bag over his shoulders and stared at this friends, “Rumors. Besides being a bit rude and grumpy he hasn't done or said anything to me for me to be scared of him.”

“Has he actually agreed to come to your house? Maybe one of us should come too? Is your mom going to be there?” Jisoo voiced his concerns.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “Guys, seriously, relax. Go drink your coffee and I'll see you all tomorrow.”

{Seungkwan's house}

It was five minutes passed five and Seungkwan was starting to think Mingyu might not show up. He picked up his phone from the table and reviewed the message exchange.

_This is Seungkwan, Boo Seungkwan. Here's my address. See you at 5?_

_**Kim Mingyu:** OK_

And that was it. Besides regretting introducing himself as if he was James Bond, Seungkwan didn't see why Mingyu wouldn't come. Maybe he should call him to ask if he could find the place. But not wanting to be a nag he decided to give him a bit more time. Five minutes wasn't so much. Finally, twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Seungkwan hurried to the door with very little patience left in his body.

“You're late.” He reproached as soon as he opened the door.

Mingyu stood in the door opening and didn't say anything. Seungkwan had been practicing how to lecture him on proper manners, but now that he saw him standing there, awkward puppy look on his face, he decided it was best to just let it go. Besides, one of those rumors might be true and he was in no mood to get stabbed or something. So he sighed and moved out of the way, “Come in. You can put your shoes over there.”

Mingyu didn't come in right away, he opened his mouth like he was about to say something and closed it again. The second time he opened his mouth without talking Seungkwan raised a brow and asked, “Is there a problem?”

“Here!” Mingyu held up a plastic bag and waited for Seungkwan to hesitantly take it from him. Seungkwan looked inside and saw a bunch of snacks. Far too many for just the two of them.

“Oh, ehm, thanks. You didn't have to.”

“Oh...” Mingyu said, “I just thought...we could eat them while we work on the assignment or something.”

Suddenly Seungkwan started to feel bad for the tall boy standing in his doorway. He seemed so uncomfortable and not at all intimidating like he did at school. He smiled at him, “Actually, that's good thinking! Snacks are very important study tools!”

Mingyu's face lit up and Seungkwan realized this was the first time that he had seen him smile. It wasn't a bad look at all.

+++

Books, notes, and empty snack packages were scattered all over the table. They had been working for almost two hours. The awkward atmosphere had gradually evaporated and both of them had focused mainly on their homework. Seungkwan groaned and stood up from the table. He walked over to the couch and let himself sink into it. “We need a break.”

He peeked over at Mingyu and followed him with his eyes as he started to clean up the table. He was really nothing like how he was at school, “I said...” he said with a louder voice than before, “We need a break! Stop cleaning and come here, let's watch some TV or something.”

Not long after that they were both doubling over with laughter. They had muted the sound of the TV and were giving their own interpretation of the overly dramatic daytime soap that was on. Seungkwan had probably only meant to lightly slap Mingyu's leg in his laughing fit, but without realizing it let his hand linger. Mingyu, on the other hand, definitely noticed and immediately his laughter stopped. Seungkwan looked up at him, surprised by the sudden silence. As he had been leaning in their faces were quite close. “What?” he asked, unsure what Mingyu's confused stare was trying to ask him.

Seungkwan's eyes widened when Mingyu's closed. Mingyu pressed their lips together and Seungkwan wasn't sure what to do. He didn't have time to figure it out because Mingyu abruptly pulled away with pure shock on his face. He jumped up and stormed toward the door. It took Seungkwan a moment to snap back into reality. When he did he yelled out for Mingyu to wait, but when he got to the hallway the door slammed shut and Mingyu was gone. Seungkwan decided not to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason why Mingyu was so late was because he was at the store and couldn't decide what snacks to buy. Sweet? Savory? Does Seungkwan have any allergies? Is it weird if I bring something in the first place? etc. (someone hug him please, he's so awkward T__T)
> 
> -Oooh snap! Did you see it coming? o.o  
> -Please leave me a comment if you want me to drop the next one quickly~ (I don't mean it in a 'if you don't comment I won't post' kind of way, I mean just to let me know. I'll drop it in a few days anyway :D)


	8. HS1-7 Science Project (continued)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan tries to talk to Mingyu about what happened yesterday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...since this chap is basically a part 2 of the last one...I just went ahead and posted it o.o (also...I just want to know what people think about it, I guess.)

Seungkwan had tried to reach out to Mingyu through text, asking him if they could talk, but no reply. He walked into the classroom the next day and Mingyu was already sitting at this desk. He walked over to his own desk. As he approached he saw Mingyu looking up at him. He looked back. Mingyu seemed scared almost. Scared as if Seungkwan would start yelling at him for kissing him, make a scene, call him gay in front of everybody. Of course he didn't. He just sat down and didn't say anything. This wasn't the time and definitely not the place.

Hansol walked in and with a smile on his face asked Seungkwan how the science project was going. Seungkwan hesitantly looked over at Mingyu, who immediately looked away. The tension was almost tangible. Seungkwan gave Hansol an awkward smile and shrugged.

As soon as the bell rang Mingyu got up and made his way out of the classroom. Seungkwan hurriedly grabbed his notes and followed, but he was unexpectedly blocked by Jeonghan and Jihoon waiting outside of the classroom.

“There you are!” Jeonghan exclaimed, “Would it have killed you to let us know you're still alive!”

“W-what are you talking about?” Seungkwan said with his attention only half focused as he was staring down the hallway trying to find Mingyu.

Jeonghan cast a glare down the hall where Mingyu just disappeared around the corner, “How did the science project go yesterday? Did Mingyu bring a knife to your house? Did he try to enlist you into a gang?”

Seungkwan sighed, “It was fine. Now if you will excuse me.” he pushed passed the both of them and went down the direction Mingyu had.

Jeonghan shook his head and sighed, “I think something happened. I can just feel it, Hoonie.”

Jihoon shrugged, “Just let it be, Han. I'm sure it's nothing.”

“But...”

“Hey guys!” Hansol's voice came from behind them, “What's up?”

“Nothing. Jeonghan and I are headed to the roof. You coming?”

{Rooftop}

“Hansol, have you noticed anything about Seungkwan and Mingyu lately?”

“Let it be, Jeonghan.” Jihoon said with a stern voice.

“What do you mean?” Hansol asked.

Jeonghan, completely ignoring Jihoon, continued, “Just...how do they interact? They sit next to each other, right?”

“Oh, ehm, they don't interact for the most part. I guess they're doing the science project together, but I haven't noticed anything weird. Why?”

Jihoon sighed, “Mingyu went over to Seungkwan's house yesterday to work on it and Jeonghan thinks something might have happened because he's crazy.”

“I'm not crazy! Didn't you see the way Mingyu waltzed right out of the classroom and Seungkwan was chasing him!”

“Doesn't that mean everything is probably fine? Seungkwan's clearly not scared of him or anything.”

Jeonghan pouted and leaned back against the wall, “I guess so...”

Hansol thought back at earlier and the way Mingyu had definitely avoided Seungkwan's gaze. But wasn't Mingyu always like that?

From that day on Hansol would spend less and less time sleeping during class and all the more observing the two boys sitting in front of him.

{Library}

“Excuse me,” Seungkwan whispered to the older student who always seemed to be in the school library, “I'm looking for one of my classmates. Tall, a bit tan, nervous looking?”

“I don't know about nervous looking, but there's a tall guy sitting in the back who came in just before you did.”

“Thanks.” Seungkwan thanked the spectacled boy and walked to the back. Sure enough he found Mingyu sitting at one of the tables. When he saw Seungkwan he averted his eyes and startled to fumble with his fingers.

Seungkwan sat down across from him, “So, ehm, we still need to finish the project. Can we go to your house after school today? Or you can come over to mine again?” He wasn't entirely sure how to handle the situation, but seeing as Mingyu had already ran away twice, he thought it was safer to talk about their school work first.

“Seungkwan I...” Mingyu looked around. There was no-one there, but Seungkwan could tell Mingyu was scared someone would hear them talking.

“Maybe we should also...talk.” Seungkwan whispered.

He smiled at him and Mingyu nodded in response. He didn't really want to talk. He wanted to run away and hide forever. But Seungkwan didn't seem angry with him or even upset about what he had done. He still hadn't figured out how to explain himself, because he honestly didn't know what he had been thinking.

{Seungkwan's house}

“Let's talk in my room.” Seungkwan suggested once they were at his house. He figured it would be weird to talk about yesterday on the couch where it had happened. But as they sat down on Seungkwan's bed he starting to regret this decision. He really hoped Mingyu didn't get the wrong idea and think he took him to his room to make out or something. Just in case, he made sure not to sit too close.

After a few moments of awkward silence Mingyu blurted out a string of words that Seungkwan was just able to make out.

“Imsosorryaboutyesterday.”

“Mingyu, relax. I'm not angry or anything. I'm just a bit confused, I guess. Why did you kiss me?”

Mingyu visible shrunk at the word _kiss_ and Seungkwan had never seen someone so tall looking so small. “Mingyu?” he asked again.

“I'm sorry...” Mingyu looked up, but almost immediately looked away again. “I don't know why I did it...I just...it felt like a moment or something...” he mumbled.

“Was it the first time you kissed someone?” Seungkwan asked softly. He didn't want to dive into the obvious of them both being boys right away.

Mingyu bit his lip and shook his head.

“Was it the first time you kissed a boy?”

Mingyu nodded.

“Is that why you freaked out and ran away?”

Mingyu shrugged, “I don't know...”

“Or was it because you kissed _me_?” Seungkwan hadn't gotten the feeling Mingyu had kissed him because he was in love with him or anything. He felt like Mingyu was very confused about the whole thing, even more than Seungkwan had been.

“Kind of I guess. It's not like I like you or anything! Not that you're unlikable! I just got the feeling that you...like...boys...too...” with every word he spoke his voice became softer.

“Oh...too?”

“No! I mean...I-”

“I do.” Seungkwan said. Mingyu looked up and Seungkwan smiled slightly. “Like boys, I mean.”

“Oh...”

“So, you kissed me to find out what it's like to kiss a boy?”

Mingyu bit his lower lip and nodded, “I think so...”

“Mingyu, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but are you gay?” there was no judgment in his voice, but Mingyu still flinched a little at the word.

“I...I've kissed a few girls before, but...I don't think it makes me feel like it's supposed to make you feel.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “Supposed to. Such a useless word if you ask me.”

“And lately, and when I say lately I mean years probably, I've been thinking maybe the reason I was never into any of those girls is because I don't really like girls in that way. And maybe...maybe I like...”

“Boys?” Seungkwan finished for him. Mingyu's eyes were tearing up and his voice was starting to crack. Seungkwan could see how much he was struggling. Mingyu nodded. He wasn't saying anything that he didn't already know really. He had just never spoken about it. With anyone. Knowing it and saying it out loud were two very different things. It made it real.

“Yeah...” Mingyu replied softly. He looked up and finally met Seungkwan's eyes for longer than two seconds. “I'm so sorry I suddenly kissed you, Seungkwan. I just wanted to know...what boys' lips feel like, I guess.”

Seungkwan shrugged casually, “Don't worry about it. It was barely a kiss anyway...”

Mingyu shoved him lightly and they both chuckled. The air already felt less heavy and the weight of yesterday that had been pressing on his chest was quickly getting disappearing.

“Do you want a _real_ kiss from a boy?” Seungkwan asked with a teasing voice.

Mingyu's eyes widened, “What?”

“Me and a friend back home used to make out together. It doesn't have to be a big deal. We mostly just did it to practice.” Seungkwan started to explain, “I figured it would be better to get good at it before I go and kiss someone I really like or something.”

“I guess that kinda makes sense...” Mingyu mumbled.

“So?” Seungkwan asked again, “How about it?”

“Are you serious?”

Seungkwan scooted closer, “Yes. Unless you don't want to, then I'm just kidding.”

Mingyu swallowed, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

He nodded. Seungkwan leaned in.

Mingyu felt safe doing this with Seungkwan. It didn't feel wrong or pressured. It was new and exciting. Seungkwan made sure not to push through Mingyu's boundaries and took it slow. After a few minutes he pulled back and looked at Mingyu with a smile. Mingyu smiled back awkwardly.

“Well?” Seungkwan asked, “How did you like it?”

Mingyu nodded slowly, “Definitely different from kissing girls. I can't really explain it.”

“You don't have to.”

Mingyu looked down to his hands and fumbled with a loose thread on his jeans, “H-how was I? Good enough to kiss someone I like?”

Seungkwan crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows like he was thinking, “Well...not bad for a beginner. Nice tongue work. But you could try to show a bit more initiative. We'll work on it.”

Mingyu's face turned bright red, “I-I didn't need a detailed review!”

Seungkwan burst out laughing and soon Mingyu joined him. He felt happier and lighter than he had in a long time.

+++

“Have you kissed a lot of people?”

They were both lying on their backs on Seungkwan's bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“A few. Just one other boy though.” Seungkwan replied.

“Oh...so you like girls and boys?”

Seungkwan thought for a moment. “I do like girls, but not in the same way that I like boys. It was great though. Girls really seemed to be into kissing a gay guy. Maybe because they knew that's all it was gonna be.”

Mingyu suddenly sat up with a serious look on his face.“Seungkwan?”

“Yeah?” Seungkwan sat up also.

Mingyu took a deep breath before he spoke. “I'm gay.”

Seungkwan took his hand and smiled at him.

“I know it was pretty obvious by now, but I just needed to say it.”

“I'm proud of you.” Seungkwan said and for a while they just sat there.

“Are you out?” Mingyu finally broke their peaceful silence. “Like, to friends and family?”

Seungkwan nodded slowly. “My parents and sisters know, back in my old town my friends knew and it was kind of an open secret at school. Most people were actually pretty cool with it. Some more than others.”

“What about here? Have you told anyone?”

Seungkwan sighed, “Well, I think everybody is just assuming that I am, but I've only really told the music club guys.”

“They're all okay with it, right? I mean...I heard rumors...”

“They're all okay with it, yeah. But it's not really my place to tell you about their sexualities. Just like I won't tell anybody about yours if you don't want me to.”

“Thanks...I think I'm not quite ready to be all out yet.”

“So...speaking of rumors. Tell me about the one where you stabbed something or _someone_ at your old school?”

Mingyu averted his eyes. He could have thought this subject was going to come up sooner or later. “It's not a rumor...I stabbed a basketball.”

“Why would you stab a basketball?”

“I...I knew they assumed that because I'm tall I'm good at basketball, but I really really suck at it.”

“So you have a vendetta against basketball and all basketballs deserve to die?”

“No...I just...I didn't know what to do! They came up to me and asked me to join the team. They were all looking at me like I was going to be their star player or something and I just freaked out...after that rumors started to spread that I threatened people with a knife and things just got a bit out of hand...”

“Wow...you're a lot more of a social mess than I initially thought.”

Mingyu fell back onto the bed and let out a big sigh, “I know. I don't even have any friends...”

“Excuse me? What am I?”

Mingyu looked up at him, “We're friends?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “Obviously.”

Seungkwan also lay down onto the bed and they got zero work done because the rest of the afternoon they just talked. About their old schools, about troubles they had at their current school, hot celebrities, basically anything and everything. Perhaps getting randomly paired with the person next to you wasn't so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -How many notes does Seungkwan take? Why does he always have so many notes? He's a good boy  
> -Please note that the boy with glasses in the library will come back at some point and play a bigger part (can you guess who it is? I bet some of you can, lol)  
> -Maybe someday I'll write a one-shot going deeper into Mingyu's experiences at his old school  
> -I don't know how most people would react to what Mingyu did, but I think I'm like Seungkwan in this...like...clearly the other person feels weird about it, so I wouldn't want to make them feel worse eventhough maybe I should be more like 'wtf why did you randomly kiss me??' (or like...it's not really up to the person who was kissed to make the person who did the kissing feel better about it, but whatever, I'm rambling. Good night, stay healthy~)
> 
> Mingyu: *apparently carries around a knife and stabs things  
> Mingyu when people think he's scary: *surprised Pikachu meme
> 
> (For those of you waiting for more Verkwan interaction: please wait just a bit longer, things will start happening soon)


	9. HS1-8 Lunch II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan is upset when Mingyu still won't talk to him at school. He confronts him at lunchtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a small chap~ (and I had zero title inspiration, lol)

The next day at school Mingyu was keeping to himself just as much as he had done before and Seungkwan was lying if he said he wasn't a bit hurt. This wasn't the same Mingyu that he had talked with for hours in his room yesterday. He wanted to speak to him, but right as the bell rang he got distracted by an eraser being thrown at the back of his head. He turned around already knowing that it must have been Hansol.

“Can't you get my attention like a normal person?” he said and threw the eraser back onto Hansol's desk.

“Sorry,” Hansol chuckled, “I didn't think the bell was going to ring yet. Can I borrow your notes?”

Seungkwan stood up with a sigh, “You should really take your own notes.” But he already placed his notebook on Hansol's desk. He didn't spend any more time talking to him though. He was meeting the music club in the cafeteria for lunch and he wanted to get to his locker before that. On his way there he ran into Seokmin who accompanied him. Seungkwan was just about to close his locker when he saw Seokmin's eyes go wide.

“What's wrong with you?” He turned around to see what Seokmin was seeing that had him all freaked out, but all he saw was one of his basketball teammates.

“Hey, Seungkwan.” Jaehyun greeted him as he walked by, “See you at practice later.”

“Yeah, see you then.”

Jaehyun locked his eyes onto Seokmin and gave him a little nod, “Bye.”

Seokmin opened his mouth to say something back, but nothing came out. Seungkwan looked at him, puzzled by why Seokmin had just gone from white to completely red in the course of a few seconds.

“Are you okay? What's wrong with you?” But before Seokmin had snapped back to reality the wheels started turning inside Seungkwan's head.

“N-nothing!” Seokmin replied finally. “Come on, we're late for lunch! Let's go. Stop looking at me like that.”

Seungkwan had a smirk on his face, “Is Jaehyun one of the things you're busy figuring out, Seok?”

The blush on Seokmin's face only turned a deeper shade of red, “Seungkwan please, don't tell him that I like him!”

“I didn't even say anything and you went right into admitting that you like him!” Seungkwan pointed out with glee.

“...”

“Don't worry. My lips are sealed.” True to his word Seungkwan had no plan to even mention Seokmin to Jaehyun, but he would be sure to keep his eyes and ears open around him a bit more to figure out if there was any chance Jaehyun could reciprocate his friend's crush. Out of all the basketball guys Jaehyun was one of the few who actually seemed nice. He hadn't talked to him much, but he was friendly and had never said anything against Seungkwan joining the team.

At lunch Seungkwan scanned the cafeteria with his eyes. It didn't take him long to find the person who he was looking for. Mingyu. Sitting by himself as per usual. He took out his phone and sent him a message.

_Gyu~ Come sit with me and the music guys_

He saw Mingyu check his phone, but he didn't get up. He just put his phone away again and stayed right where he was. Seungkwan let out an insulted huff and stood up, “Excuse me, I have to move tables for a bit.”

He walked over to Mingyu's table (followed by four pair of curious eyes) and sat down across from him with an angry frown on his face. Mingyu was startled by his dramatic entrance and stared back at him.

“What do you want?” he asked, mouth filled with yet to be chewed food.

“So just how many hours do I have to hang out with you, talk to you, listen to you, before I am worthy to hang out with during school hours? I guess being by yourself is better than being seen with me. Is that it?”

“Seungkwan, people are staring...”

It was true. Some people were staring, but Seungkwan was angry. He thought he and Mingyu had become friends. He thought Mingyu liked him as a person and would want to hang out with him. Not like he had much of a reputation to protect anyway.

“Fine. I'll leave you alone. Just have the balls to tell me to my face that you don't want to be seen with me.”

Mingyu lowered his gaze. “It's not that...”

“Then what?”

“Haven't you noticed that everybody always avoids me? People are scared of me...they don't want to have anything to do with me.” He looked up and Seungkwan's expression softened. _This_ was the same scared boy who had stood in his doorway holding a bag of snacks.

“It's not that I'm worried about being seen with you, I'm worried about people seeing you with me.”

Seungkwan scoffed. “Don't be ridiculous. I don't care about any of that. So as long as you don't mind, I'm going to eat my lunch here now. Okay?”

Mingyu nodded and a small smile appeared on his face. He was about to continue eating his lunch when he was startled again when the rest of the music club sat down at their table.

“Seungkwan, why do we have to move all the way over here? Couldn't he just have joined us instead?” Jeonghan asked with an exaggerated amount of dramatics as if walking the few meters to this table was a three week journey through the desert.

“It's not my fault,” Seungkwan replied as best he could with a mouth full of food, “Mingyu was being stubborn.” He swallowed, “Oh yeah, by the way, everybody this is Mingyu, Mingyu this is everybody.”

Jihoon scoffed, “As if we don't know who Mingyu is.” He stared him straight in the eye, “I'm not afraid of you, buddy. Don't let my height fool you. I'll cut a bitch.”

“Don't mind him.” Jisoo said, “He means well.”

“No I don't.”

“He does.” Jeonghan added. Jihoon just glared at the both of them.

The others introduced himself to Mingyu and the rest of lunch was the best lunch of the school year so far. For Mingyu anyway. He didn't even notice the stares from the other people in the cafeteria anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for Seungkwan joining his new friends together (for the most part)
> 
> Personally, I'm here for Seokmin crushing on Jaehyun 
> 
> Next time is Music Club time~


	10. HS1-9 Music Club - Of Bands and Butts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan has an idea for the music club. Jeonghan likes butts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we begin: SCOUUUUPPPPSS is back T____T (eh, irl, not in fic world)

As much as he enjoyed hanging out at the music club and making music with just the five of them, Seungkwan felt like it wasn't enough. Nobody knew or cared about the music they made. He wanted people to hear them, because between the five of them there was a lot of talent in that music room. His old school held a big musical every year and he had really been looking forward to joining before he moved. He knew that trying to start a musical with just five members would be near impossible and the other students wouldn't exactly be lining up to join either. If anything they'd probably make fun of them. But Seungkwan had come across something that he thought was perfect. Or at least worth suggesting to the others.

He opened the door to the music room and walked in on Jihoon and Jeonghan having some sort of argument. Both Seokmin and Jisoo were sitting to the side minding their own business.

“Jeonghan, no!” Jihoon looked about ready to hit Jeonghan over the head with the guitar he had in his hand.

“I don't mean it in a sexual way I just want to-”

“No!”

“But it looks so-”

“NO!”

Seungkwan walked over to them, “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing!” Jihoon hissed. More at Jeonghan than at Seungkwan.

Jeonghan, on the other hand, sighed and explained. “I want to touch your butt, but he says I can't.”

“E-excuse me?” Seungkwan wasn't sure if he had heard correctly,”You want to touch my...butt?”

“It looks so round and squeezable!” Jeonghan's eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together.

“I, eh...”

“It's not a weird sexual thing! I just really like touching butts. I touch Jihoon's all the time!” He immediately placed a hand on Jihoon's ass. Seungkwan almost saw a gauge of rage in Jihoon's eyes going up to a boiling point. “See? He's totally fine with it.”

He most definitely did not look like he was totally fine with it, but at the same time the fact that he hadn't already smacked Jeonghan away was a lot coming from Jihoon.

“Please don't touch my butt.” Seungkwan said. He believed Jeonghan didn't mean it in a creepy way, but he wasn't exactly used to friends who asked if they could grope him during school hours. In a strange way he was grateful for friends that were so comfortable around each other. This music room really was their safe space.

“Awww...Can I at least change your chat name to MC Booty? As an ode to it.”

Seungkwan snorted, “Fine. I guess.”

“You never touch _my_ butt.” Seokmin, who had walked over together with Jisoo to witness this ridiculous conversation, weighed in, sounding slightly disappointed. Jeonghan ruffled Seokmin's hair with his free hand and smiled.

“That's because you're innocent and pure.”

“You don't think _I'm_ innocent and pure?” Seungkwan asked, feeling weirdly offended.

Jeonghan scoffed, “No.”

“You also never touch Jisoo's butt!” Seokmin pointed out. There was something off about the way Jeonghan's face twitched for a split second.

“That's just because...Jisoo is...” He was stumbling over his words and avoided looking at the boy in question.

“I know whose butt Seokmin wants to touch~” Seungkwan sing-songed and saw Seokmin's eyes grow wide.

“Oh, you mean Jaehyun?” Jisoo added casually.

“Why are you all exposing me?” Seokmin whined.

“You expose yourself by become redder than Jihoon's hair was last summer everytime you talk to him.” Jeonghan teased.

“He's too handsome. I don't know how to talk to him!”

“But Minnie, you talk to _me_ all the time.” Jeonghan said with fake offense.

“I'm sorry, you're very handsome! You're all very handsome! That's not what I meant! I-”

“Honey, relax. I was just kidding.”

“Han, stop breaking this poor kid's brain.” Jisoo chuckled.

“Look, Minnie, don't be ashamed about wanting to grab Jaehyun's butt. There's nothing wrong with wanting to grab someone's butt. It's only natural to-”

“Can we please stop talking about butts.” Jihoon interrupted. “And, stop. Touching. me.”

Jeonghan finally pulled his hand off Jihoon's behind. “Fine. What are we doing today? Do you want to go over that song you wrote again?”

“Actually,” Seungkwan said before Jihoon could answer, “I have something I want to talk to you guys about.” He took a crumbled piece of paper from his bag and held it up with anticipation.

“Battle of the Bands?” Jihoon asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes! I know we are a music club and we've been focusing mostly on ballads, but what if we-”

“Start a band.” Jihoon finished for him as straightened his posture. He took the paper from Seungkwan and studied it more carefully. He nodded as he took in the requirements. “First auditions in February...final show in May...” he mumbled and a smirk started to form on his face. “We can do this. Let's do it.”

Seungkwan, clearly excited that Jihoon thought it was a good idea, clapped his hands, but the others seemed less convinced.

“It sounds like fun, Jihoon, but there's one problem.” Jisoo spoke.

“What's that?”

“You can drum, I can play the guitar, but we don't have anyone for bass. Can't have a proper band without a bass player.”

Jihoon thought for a moment as he chewed on his bottom lip. “Jeonghan.”

“Yes?”

“Learn how to play bass.”

“What!?” Jeonghan exclaimed.

“You're musically talented, shouldn't be too hard.”

“But I-”

“It's perfect. You already have that bass guitarist vibe anyway.”

“I do!?”

“Yeah.” The others nodded as well, all seeing the potential of Jeonghan the bass player.

“Why can't Seungkwan learn how to play bass?”

“Nah, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that you're going to be our bassist. You've got the potential, the vibe, and it'll keep your hands busy with things other than butts. Besides, Seungkwan is more suited for a...a tambourine or something.”

Seungkwan let out a small indignant puff of air, “I'd be insulted because I think you meant it as a negative thing, but I'd rock a tambourine and you know it.”

“All in favor of starting a band with Jeonghan as our bass player? Raise of hands.” Jihoon declared.

Three hands shot up immediately, with Seokmin's hesitant hand following. Jeonghan looked around at his friends with a look of betrayal. But eventually he sighed and caved.

“Don't worry, Hannie. I'll help you.” Jisoo smiled and hooked their arms together.

Seokmin leaned in to Jihoon and whispered in his ear, “You do know that I also play guitar, right? I could play bass.”

Jihoon shrugged, “You're on keyboard. Besides, it's good for his education.”

“What do I do?” Seungkwan asked, “I play a little bit of piano...”

“You're on vocals. But it might be interesting to have you and Seok sing some things together. We'll figure it out. Nice idea, Seungkwan. I've been itching to actually do something. The fact that we'll be using school time to practice for something not at all related to the school is a bonus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Don't worry, Jihoon doesn't really mind Jeonghan touching his butt  
> -Seriously can we have a vocal team band again, please? >.<
> 
> -Big thank you to all the lovely people who are always leaving comments ^_^ 
> 
> EDIT: just a small note to tell you that the story of Jihoon's bright red hair will be told at some point, lol
> 
> Next up: A basketball team outing (which means Hansol) that goes well at first, then not so great, then great again (will probably update pretty fast...I kind of really like the last part of the next chapter because it sets certain things in motion ._. )


	11. HS1-10 Burgers, games and a scarf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol invites Seungkwan to go have some burgers with him and some of their basketball teammates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told ya'll I'd update really soon this time, lol.

The end of the year was fast approaching and the start of their winter break only a day away. The basketball team had a tournament in January and Johnny, the captain, was working them overtime before the holidays. They had just finished up their final training and Seungkwan was about ready to leave when Hansol blocked his path.

“Hey Seungkwan! Me and some of the guys are going to grab a burger, wanna come?”

Seungkwan looked passed Hansol and saw a few of the other boys waiting. Amongst them was Taesung, one of the boys who had been vocally against Seungkwan joining the team. Even though he felt like they were more indifferent to his presence now as opposed to against it, he still felt like most of them just tolerated him because the captain had said so. “Ehm, I don't want to impose.”

“Don't be silly, come on.” His smile was big and bright and Seungkwan could hardly say no to that. So he awkwardly walked after Hansol already making his way back to their teammates.

“Guys, Seungkwan is coming too.”

Seungkwan could see on the faces of some of them that they'd rather not have him coming along and he was about to come up with some sort of excuse not to go when one of them stepped forward.

“Finally. You've been in the club for a while now. About time.”

Seungkwan only knew his name was Hyunggu and that he was in the same year, different class. He had never actually even spoken with him, had he? Well, he seemed nice enough. His black bangs were slightly too long and kept getting in his eyes, but his smile was friendly albeit a bit mischievous. His face was another one of those that made Seungkwan wonder what was in the water of this town to make all the men look so good.

They all rode the bus together and Seungkwan was hoping to sit next to Hansol, but the seat next to him was taken by Hyunggu before Hansol could even sit down. Seungkwan's phone chimed and he checked the message Mingyu had sent him. They had unconsciously developed the habit to text each other throughout the day and it was unusual to go without a message for more than a few hours.

**Gyu:** Done with basketball? >3<

**Mr. Boo:** Yeah somehow on my way to eat burgers with some of them...

**Gyu:** OMG social interaction! Have fun~ Be safe~ Let me know how it goes

It still amazed Seungkwan how different Mingyu had turned out to be from his first impression. He was in the middle of typing his reply when he was startled by Hyunggu leaning in and whispering, “I'm glad you're joining us, Seungkwan. Most of these guys are idiots.” Seungkwan smiled at him. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

This was the first time he hung out with any of the basketball team members outside of the club and maybe they had just gotten used to him or maybe it was because the setting was different, but he felt quite comfortable and he didn't stay in his shell for too long. His celebrity impressions had the whole group laughing and for the first time he felt like they were looking at him not as the undeclared gay kid, but just as Seungkwan. That was until one of them spotted a group of girls.

“Look at that those girls! Let's go talk to them! Maybe we can talk them into a date!” One of the older boys said with pubescent enthusiasm.

“There's only five girls, there's six of us.” Hansol pointed out. Honestly he wasn't interested either way. He hadn't come out to find a date.

“So? Not like Seungkwan needs a girl.” Taesung shot back.

Seungkwan froze. All eyes on him. Were they waiting for him to deny it? Should he say how much he likes boobs?

Hyunggu clicked his tongue, “It's an uneven number regardless. Just forget about it.”

“Oh come on, I'm sure Seungkwan doesn't mind. Right, Seungkwan?” Another boy looked at Seungkwan and he felt the pressure to excuse himself, to disappear.

“Right...you guys go and get some chicks. I have stuff to do anyway.” He didn't even wait for a response, he got up and walked away. He just wanted to get out of there.

Once outside he started looking around to figure out where the nearest bus stop was. He hadn't really paid any attention when they arrived. He felt like an absolute idiot. He felt humiliated and alone. He took a deep breath to calm himself when he suddenly heard a voice calling out to him.

“Seungkwan, wait up!”

He turned around and saw Hansol coming towards him.

“I'm sorry about those guys. I don't think they meant-”

“Meant what? That I'm gay? Of course that's what they meant. And they just blatantly used it as a reason not to hang out with me.” Seungkwan just blurted it out. He didn't even care if Hansol would take this to mean that he was, in fact, gay. He was done trying to become friends with people who wouldn't accept him for who he was anyway. He let out a big sigh. “And I just thought they were starting to like me.”

“They do like you! They're just thinking with their dicks. And even if they don't like you it's really their loss. You don't need friends like that.”

“Thanks...” Seungkwan smiled weakly.

“I don't care by the way. If you're...” he didn't finish his sentence. He wasn't sure why not. He really didn't care what sexuality people had, but knowing if this particular boy was interested in boys felt more important to Hansol somehow.

“So, ehm, why did you follow me out?” Seungkwan asked, deciding not to delve into the subject of his sexuality further, “You just left them with the wrong number of people again.”

Hansol chuckled, “Yeah, well, sucks for them I guess. They were being assholes.”

Seungkwan wasn't sure what to say next. Hansol had just left his friends behind to hang out with him. He had already considered him something of a friend, but this felt like a new level in their friendship. Seungkwan couldn't quite put his finger on it, but this felt different than the other new friends he had made. He didn't slip into it as smoothly and he had difficulty coming up with something he and Hansol could do together. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out with him, he was just afraid to suggest something Hansol wouldn't like.

Luckily Hansol didn't seem to have that problem, “Do you want to go to the arcade? Play some games?” he asked casually as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and, without actually waiting for Seungkwan's reply, slowly started walking.

“Eh, sure.” Seungkwan said as he quickly caught up with him. He almost never went to arcades. He thought they were too loud and most of the people there were way too invested in the games. But, if it was with Hansol, he was sure arcades could be fun.

{arcade hall}

Hansol had led them to the nearest arcade and Seungkwan just followed. But, once again, he allowed himself a moment to be distracted by his phone. Or, more specifically, by Kim Mingyu.

**Gyu** : how's the basketball hang?

**Mr. Boo** : just me and Hansol now

**Gyu** : why?

**Mr. Boo** : what why?

**Gyu:** why just H?

**Mr. Boo:** tell you later. You're still coming to my place tomorrow?

**Gyu** : eh ok. Yeah totally @tomorrow

Seungkwan put his phone away in his bag and placed his attention back on Hansol who was groaning after he had failed to win a price out of the crane game for the third time in a row. Seungkwan sighed, “Move. Let me try.”

His level of confidence was based on nothing, but somehow proved to be justified when he successfully got a small plush of a little pig dressed as a cat on his first try. Hansol's mouth was wide open with genuine amazement and he excitedly shook Seungkwan by the shoulders.

“Calm down, calm down!” Seungkwan said laughing. “Here.” He held up his prize and gave it to Hansol.

“But you won it...” Hansol said, taking it nonetheless.

“It was your coin. Besides, it's more fun to win for someone else.”

Hansol grinned from ear to ear, “Well, thanks! If I win something I'll be sure to return the favor.”

Seungkwan sighed dramatically, “I guess I'll never get anything then.”

Hansol shook his head and scoffed, but the smile hadn't left his face. “Come on, let's play something I can beat you at.”

“Ha! Good luck with that.”

As it turned out, there were plenty of games Hansol could beat Seungkwan at, but neither of them really cared either way. They were having fun and that was all that mattered. When they both ran out of cash they decided it was time to head back home. It was getting kind of late anyway.

“I think my bus leaves at that bus stop over there. How about you?” Seungkwan asked once they had left the arcade and were walking outside. “Do you need me to check the schedule? I have the app here.”

“N-no, I'm good.” Hansol replied, voice trembling a bit. Seungkwan looked up from his phone and stopped in his tracks when his eyes landed on a shivering Hansol.

“Oh my god, why aren't you dressed warmer!?”He hadn't noticed before, but the other boy was clearly under-dressed for the current temperature. It hadn't matter so much when they were inside, but now he looked like he was freezing.

“I didn't think it would be so cold today!” Or more precisely he hadn't thought he'd be out until this late when the temperature was already way down.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes and took off his scarf, “Here.” He placed it around Hansol's neck and wrapped it around him twice.

“T-thanks.”

“Better?”

Hansol nodded.

“Good. Now let's go.” Seungkwan continued walking and Hansol let out the breath he had apparently been holding.

Hansol knew he needed a different bus stop, but his bus would arrive after Seungkwan's so he walked with him. He was glad they left the other guys at the restaurant. He really needed to re-evaluate some of his friendships because he couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun. He was more wrapped up in his thoughts than he realized and he didn't even notice the arrival of Seungkwan's bus.

“Hansol? My bus is here. I guess I'll see you after winter break.”

Seungkwan already had one foot in the bus when Hansol remembered he still had Seungkwan's scarf wrapped around his neck, “Oh, here, your scarf!” He started to take it off but Seungkwan stopped him.

“Keep it. I have another one at home.”

“I have one at home too.” Hansol mumbled.

“Well, you clearly need a back-up.” Seungkwan winked at him and got on the bus. He waved to Hansol from the window. He waved back and as he did so, Hansol wasn't sure if the warmth in his body was because of the scarf or because of the person who had given it to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus Hansol's emotional awakening starts...
> 
> For those of you who are not so familiar with Pentagon. Hyunggu is Pentagon's Kino. The role he plays here was actually for a long time while I wrote this an OC, but then I realized that he's kind of perfect for it. The Taesung guy isn't any idol (I googled the name to make sure, but I haven't found any idol with that name). I decided to do that because he will come back here and there but he isn't a nice person at all and I didn't want to use any idol for this particular character >.<
> 
> Also, why a plush of a pig dressed as a cat?? No reason. I just really like animals dressed as other animals tbh.
> 
> Next time Mingyu comes over to Seungkwan's house and he has something to tell him...


	12. HS1-11 Practice makes perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan tells Mingyu about his outing with the basketball team and Mingyu tells Seungkwan about some developments at school.

The next day was officially the first day of their winter break and Mingyu and Seungkwan were settled down on the couch in Seungkwan's living room. Netflix and vast amounts of popcorn at the ready.

“You were pretty vague yesterday. How were the basketball people? Are they still giving you a hard time?”

Seungkwan sank back into the cushions of the couch and sighed, “At first it was actually kinda fun. Until one of the upperclassmen spotted a group of girls. Some of them wanted to go over to them but we didn't have the right number of people. They didn't see that as a problem, however, because they said I didn't need a girl anyway. Basically they called me gay and wanted me to go take a hike.”

Mingyu scoffed at the story, “Assholes. What did you say?”

“What was I supposed to say? I just got up and left.”

Mingyu scrunched his eyebrows together in a frown, “You shouldn't hang out with those guys anymore. I don't like how they treat you.”

Seungkwan chuckled, “Okay, mom. Can I still hang out with Hyunggu and Hansol? At least they tried to stick up for me.”

“Oh yeah, you ended up hanging with Hansol, right? And who is Hyunggu? He cute?”

“Hyunggu? I guess he's kinda cute. He's in our year. I hadn't really talked to him before to be honest. He seems all right.”

“But when I texted you, you were with Hansol?”

“Yes! He was really sweet and followed me out. We went to an arcade together. He sucked at crane games.” A smile crept on his face as he remembered the excited look on Hansol's face when he had handed him the plush.

“So you two are, like, friends, right? I know he sometimes talks to you during class and stuff. Why doesn't he ever sit with us during lunch?”

Seungkwan shrugged, “He seems to have lunch up on the roof often. With Jihoon and Jeonghan.”

“Weird flex.”

“I know right. Anyway, I guess other days he just sits with a few of our classmates or basketball people. Honestly, he doesn't seem to have any close friends.”

“I suppose I understand not wanting to sit with us...we're not exactly a social upgrade.”

“Whatever. We're awesome.” Seungkwan huffed in response, “He should be so lucky to eat lunch with us.”

Mingyu laughed, “Either way, I'm glad you're not only surrounded by homophobic shit in that basketball club.”

“Yeah, me too.” He reached out to grab some popcorn, “Anyway, I'm done talking about it now. Ready for a movie?”

Mingyu took a pillow and wrapped his arms around it and pulled his legs up onto the couch, “Ready!”

<>

Somewhere during the second movie they had lost interest in the generic straight love story unfolding on screen and Seungkwan eventually just turned it off all together.

“I'm getting hungry. How about you? Let's make dinner maybe?”

“Seungkwan...” Mingyu said, not looking directly at him, “I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.” Seungkwan turned a bit to face him more directly.

“I...went to the library yesterday.” Mingyu mumbled.

Seungkwan's gasped dramatically and covered his mouth with his hand.

“Shut up, I'm not finished!”

“Sorry, go ahead. What about the library?”

“Well, while I was at the library I saw the student who apparently helps out there or something.” Mingyu's fingers were fiddling with the edge of the pillow he was still holding.

“And?”

“And...he's...really nice.” An unmistakable blush colored Mingyu's cheeks and Seungkwan narrowed his eyes.

“Nice how?”

Mingyu looked up. “What do you mean how? He's just nice! He looks nice, he behaves nice. He's nice.”

“Ooooh.” Seungkwan said knowingly, now with a smirk on his face, “You're trying to tell me that you have a crush on this guy, aren't you?”

Mingyu jerked his head up with wide eyes, “Please don't make a big deal out of this...I just...don't know what to do about it?” He slumped back and sighed.

“Mingyu! This is great!” Seungkwan pulled his legs onto the couch and sat up on his knees, facing Mingyu. “First things first, we have to find out if he plays for our team or else we'll just be wasting our time.”

“I don't think he's in any school sports teams, he's more the brainy type.”

“Mingyu...I mean _our_ team. Team gay.”

“Oh...well...how do we do that? I can't just go up and ask him.”

“No...maybe first just try talking to him?”

“I can't do that!”

“Why not!?”

“Well for one thing, what if he talks back? Then what am I supposed to do!”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “You sound just like Seokmin. Just have a conversation.”

“But...what do I even talk about?”

“I don't know. Try to get to know him. Find out what he's interested in. Even if he's not gay, you might make a friend.”

“Even if he _is_ gay he's probably not interested in me at all anyway. He's way too cool.”

“Didn't you say this guy voluntarily helps out at the library?”

“Yeah.”

“I think you're good on the cool department. Although, once he finds out your true personality...”

“You're not helping!” Mingyu whined and threw the pillow in Seungkwan's direction.

“I'm sorry. What I meant is that you're an awesome person. You just need to give this sexy librarian a chance to see it!”

Mingyu nodded slowly and chewed on his bottom lip.

“Stop that! You don't want your lips to be all busted when you get this guy to kiss you behind the bookshelves.” He was only half joking really. He was excited for Mingyu's first real crush, but he was afraid he was going to ruin it by doing something stupid like sneezing in the guy's face.

Mingyu's eyes widened again, “Oh my god, I hadn't even considered the possibility of it actually going somewhere!”

“Isn't that what you want?”

“Well, yeah, but what if I talk to him and by some miracle don't screw it up and end up kissing him and it turns out I'm really bad at it and-”

“Did you already forget that you kissed me and I told you it was fine?”

“You said I _wasn't bad_ , but that it needed some work.” Mingyu pouted.

“Okay, fine. Wanna work on it? Practice makes perfect after all.”

“You said you were hungry.”

Seungkwan threw his hands in the air, “Do you want to get better at kissing before you make your move on this guy, or not?”

Mingyu nodded. Seungkwan scooted closer and placed a hand on Mingyu's arm. He started to lean in but Mingyu backed away.

“W-what about your mom?”

“What about my mom? She won't be home for at least another hour. We can go to my room if you're more comfortable there.”

“You sure she won't suddenly come home and see me defiling her son?”

“Defiling? What exactly are you planning to do to me, Kim Mingyu! Even if she does come home we'll hear the door first anyway.”

Mingyu nodded and again Seungkwan wanted to lean in, only to be stopped again.

“Wait! Last time you told me I needed to show more initiative. So...let me.”

It started off a bit coy still, but Mingyu seemed really determined to earn Seungkwan's seal of approval for his kissing skills. Unlike last time he was the one to set the pace and the intensity of the kiss. Seungkwan was lowkey impressed with the new found boldness in Mingyu's technique. When they pulled apart he nodded approvingly.

“Not bad, Kim Mingyu. Not bad at all! Nice touch with the hands coming up to cup my face. Any guy you're going to kiss in the future can count himself lucky.”

Mingyu chuckled shyly. If someone would have told him a few months ago that he'd have a friend he was this close to _and_ an actual crush without it sending him down the path of self-loathing, he wouldn't have believed them. He leaned his head on Seungkwan's shoulder.

“Thank you for helping me. I could never do this by myself. I still don't think I'm ready to really talk to him, but at least I don't want to kill myself for being gay.”

Seungkwan reached out for Mingyu's hand, “I'm sorry if you ever felt that way, Mingyu. I love you and if you ever feel like that, talk to me. Please?”

Mingyu gave his hand a little squeeze, “It wasn't just the gay thing...it was just...everything. But don't worry. I don't feel like that anymore. I promise.”

He stood up and stretched his long limbs, “But now I'm hungry too! Let's eat!”

{Seungkwan's kitchen}

A little bit later they had started to make dinner with whatever they had found in Seungkwan's fridge. He was trying his best to cut the vegetables, but Mingyu clearly didn't think he was doing a good job and groaned loudly.

“You're doing it all wrong. Give me that knife.”

“No, you might mistake me for a basketball.”

“Give it!” He reached for the knife from behind Seungkwan, effectively pressing himself against his back. “I'll show you how to do it, here.” Instead of taking the knife from him he placed his hand on top of Seungkwan's and guided him as he cut. Neither one of them bothered, or even really aware, of the lack of distance between their bodies. That was, until someone cleared their throat behind them. They both spun around, startled by the sudden interruption.

“Mom!” Seungkwan yelled out to the woman standing in the kitchen doorway.

Mingyu immediately took a step away from Seungkwan and held up his hands to emphasize that he was definitely not touching him.

“You're home earlier than expected. Me and Mingyu were just making something to eat. Oh,” he grabbed Mingyu's arm and pulled him towards his mother, “This is Mingyu by the way.”

Seungkwan's mother smiled at him in a way that made Mingyu feel welcomed and he felt like he understood why it had been so easy for him to befriend her son, “It's nice to meet you, Mingyu. Since you two already started making it I guess you'll be staying for dinner?”

“I-if that's okay!” He had been over to Seungkwan's house multiple times already, but this was the first time he actually met his mother. It felt a little strange. He had gotten used to this house as a safe space that was always shared with Seungkwan. But his mother had a peaceful presence and it helped that Mingyu was aware of the fact that his mother knew Seungkwan was gay and supportive of it. He still hadn't told his own parents, but at least he didn't have to worry about any of that in this house.

“Of course it is.” Seungkwan's mother replied with a sweet smile, “Why don't you boys go and watch TV or something. I'll finish dinner and call you when it's done.”

Both Mingyu and Seungkwan refused immediately and insisted on finishing what they had started. In the end Seungkwan and his mother set the table while Mingyu finished up in the kitchen.

“He seems very nice.” His mother whispered to him, “...and very handsome.” she added with a hint of a smirk on her face.

“Mom, please. He's just a friend.”

“I'm just saying he's handsome.”

Seungkwan chuckled and shook his head. No point in arguing with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Oho, Mingyu has a crush...and yet he's making out with Seungkwan, lol
> 
> Next time Seungkwan asks Hansol to help him out with some extra one-on-one basketball practice ._.
> 
> (Side note: how's everybody doing with the whole coronovirus situation? The constant media coverage is giving me more stress than the actual virus at this point >.< Be sure to buy some extra toilet paper btw, because like I told my friend right after I bought extra and right before it all sold out in all the stores here: "Where there is panic, there is no toilet paper!")


	13. HS1-12 One-on-One Basketball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan and Hansol's one-on-one Basketball practice makes Hansol realize something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Falling Flower T__T Did you listen? I need the MV, please >.<
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter~

The rest of the winter holiday flew by. On Jisoo's birthday Seungkwan met up with the rest of the music club. When he came to this school Jeonghan's birthday had already passed, Jihoon didn't want to celebrate his birthday (that hadn't stopped them from decorating the music room that day), so Jisoo's was the first real celebration Seungkwan was a part of. Even if what they did wasn't terribly special (lunch including birthday cake and karaoke), it felt special all the same.

He also met with Mingyu a few times and he had started to text back and forth with Hansol a bit. Although Hansol mostly just sent him memes and links to videos he thought were funny or interesting. It was nice because, even though he didn't always get Hansol's sense of humor, Seungkwan felt like he got to know him a bit more through their message exchanges. See a side of him he hadn't seen at school yet.

But vacation was over and it was back to school again. With the upcoming basketball tournament Seungkwan was more anxious than before to do well. He didn't want to mess up and give any of them a reason to make him feel like he shouldn't have been on the team to begin with. That was why he had asked Hansol to help him practice a bit more after their regular training was finished.

“You're doing fine.” Hansol said as he threw the ball back to Seungkwan. They were the only two left and the sound of their sneakers bounced of the walls. “I don't see why you want to practice even more than what Johnny is already putting us through.”

“I've been playing volleyball mostly and my basketball skills are still a bit rusty. I might be doing fine for someone who just joined, but I need to be better than that if we want to win our game next week!”

“If you say so.” Hansol didn't mind helping him, but he honestly thought Seungkwan wasn't giving himself enough credit. He ran towards him to try to steal the ball from him, but Seungkwan spun around and blocked. Being this close to him caused a whiff of Seungkwan's scent to hit Hansol's nose. It was the same smell that had lingered on the scarf Seungkwan had given him. The scarf he had brought to his nose to inhale all of the scent as he sat on his bed after getting home that day. The scarf he had stuffed in the back of his sock drawer after he caught himself doing that and thinking it was a strange thing to do. The same scent, Seungkwan's scent, was stronger now and it caused a momentary short-circuit in Hansol's teenage brain. Had Seungkwan always smelled this nice? Had he just never realized it before? Why did he think it was nice? The distraction was enough for Seungkwan to manage to get away and make a shot for the hoop.

“See?” Seungkwan said with a frustrated expression painted in his face as the ball bounced of the edge, unaware of Hansol's confused state of mind.

Barely recovered from before, Hansol found himself unable to look away as Seungkwan walked away and bent over to pick up the ball. He quickly turned around and pinched his left cheek. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was Seungkwan's presence having this effect on his sanity all of a sudden?

“ _Focus_ ” he whispered to himself.

To no avail.

He swears he was just trying to reach for the ball that Seungkwan was so skillfully monopolizing, but something in his brain messed with his hand-eye coordination and, for the briefest of moments, his hand brushed against the unclothed part of Seungkwan's leg. It was so quick and light that Seungkwan hadn't even seemed to notice. But Hansol sure had. His hand tingled where he had made contact with the warm, slightly damp with sweat, skin. His heart was racing. Seungkwan got away again and this time managed to score.

With the ball under his arm he walked back to Hansol, slightly out of breath. “Am I getting better or are you just getting worse? Are you okay?”

“Just a little tired.” Hansol lied, hoping that Seungkwan took the redness of his face as a result from exercise instead of the blush it really was.

Seungkwan's face fell, “I'm sorry for keeping you longer. Let's call it a day.”

The soft look of concern on Seungkwan's face made Hansol feel things that he didn't know what to do with. It sent a weird feeling down to his stomach. He couldn't tell if it was a nice feeling or not. “Nah, it's okay. Let's go another round!” Hansol protested, but Seungkwan shook his head. He looked behind Hansol and a smile appeared on his face.

“No, really it's okay! Mingyu's here anyway.”

Hansol turned around and saw the tall figure of his classmate and Seungkwan's friend make his way over to them. He watched Seungkwan immediately focus all of his attention on Mingyu and the feeling that his stomach was floating was cruelly grounded. Maybe it had been a nice feeling after all.

“I'm gonna go change, wait here!” Seungkwan said to Mingyu before he turned back to Hansol, “You coming? To change?”

The last thing Hansol needed right now was to be alone with Seungkwan in a locker room, so no, he wasn't coming. “Nah, you go on ahead. I'll just practice by myself a bit.”

“Are you sure? You just said you're tired.”

Hansol nodded and Seungkwan sighed, “Okay. Don't let Mingyu join you. He has a thing against basketball.”

He followed Seungkwan with his eyes as he darted off to the locker room. He picked up the ball and started shooting some hoops. He knew Mingyu was watching him and that irritated him. The ball smoothly slid down the net of the basket and Hansol was glad he hadn't missed in front of the boy that made Seungkwan smile. He focused on his shots and had almost forgotten Mingyu was even there when he heard applause coming from the side after another successful shot.

“Nice one!” Mingyu cheered.

Hansol shot him a dirty look and Mingyu immediately fell silent. His tall figure shrank like a dog getting scolded.

Hansol felt bad. Mingyu was just being nice and Hansol had absolutely no reason to be mean to him. “Thanks.” he mumbled and he picked up the ball once more. “Not as good as Seungkwan though.” he added for some reason. He positioned himself to take another shot.

“Yeah,” Mingyu replied, “He's pretty good with balls.”

Hansol missed the shot. He looked over at Mingyu who smiled shyly. He didn't seem to have realized he just made a dirty joke. This guy really just was a kind gentle airhead, wasn't he? Hansol wondered why he had such a bad reputation anyway. He couldn't be so bad if Seungkwan was friends with him.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Seungkwan returning from getting changed broke the silence, “What are you guys talking about?”

“Mingyu was just saying how good you are with balls.”

“Excuse me?” Seungkwan blinked and looked between them.

Mingyu finally got his own unintended dirty joke and his eyes widened, “No, I didn't! I just said you're good at _basket_ ball.”

Hansol snickered, “No you didn't. I said I'm not as good as he is and then you said ' _yeah, he's pretty good with balls_ '.”

Mingyu shot an apologetic look at his friend, but Seungkwan just sighed. “Let's just go.” He turned to Hansol and smiled, “Thanks again for helping me, Hansol! I'll see you tomorrow!”

Hansol watched as the other two boys walked away together. Suddenly he found himself wondering if Seungkwan was really gay and if maybe Mingyu was too. He saw no point in sticking around all by himself so he put the ball away and went to take a shower. It was easy to see which shower Seungkwan had used. The tiles still wet and the air damp. Hansol took his shower in the same booth. Under the warm water his mind started to wander. It wandered to the way Seungkwan's shorts had wrapped around his legs and butt. The way he smelled. The way...oh shit. He looked down to get visual confirmation of what he already knew. He was turned on. Because of Seungkwan.

He reached for the cold-water knob and turned it all the way open. After cooling down he stepped out of the shower and started to dry himself off. It all started to make sense. Why he felt the way he did around Seungkwan, why Mingyu felt like an eyesore even though he was always nice. He needed a meeting with his rooftop buddies.

{Rooftop}

The next day during lunch he was pacing back and forth on the rooftop while Jihoon and Jeonghan waited for him to explain what the problem was.

“Okay, so, yesterday I was playing some basketball alone with Seungkwan.”

“Okay, and?” Jihoon asked. Not sure yet if he was going to be interested in this conversation.

“Let's just say that after we played basketball together and were pretty close physically, I needed a cold shower.”

“Oh...” Jeonghan said, understanding what Hansol meant, “Well, that doesn't have to mean anything. You're a hormonal teenager...”

Hansol stopped pacing and looked at them, “No, man. It was different. And...” Yesterday he had started to think about Seungkwan and how he felt about him. A lot. He had to admit a few things to himself that he had been trying to ignore. “It wasn't the first time that I thought about him in that...context. A few times before...when I...you know...he just popped into my head and once he did it didn't take long before I...finished.”

Jihoon scrunched up his nose and furrowed his brows, “Didn't need to know that, but okay.”

“There's more...”

“Hansol, I really don't think me and Jeonghan need to know the details about what you jerk off to.”

“That's not what I meant! I mean there's more to my feelings than just that!”

“Oh. Like what?” Jeonghan asked, both because he wanted to be there for his friend in crisis and because he was quite interested in this development.

“Like...I can't stop thinking about him, sometimes I catch myself staring at him, seeing him smile is the best thing in the world, and when Mingyu came to pick him up yesterday it felt like he kicked me right in the chest.”

He sat down with a loud sigh and buried his hands in his hair.

Jeonghan patted him on the shoulder, “There, there. It's okay.”

Hansol's head shot back up, “How is it okay!? There is no way I can compete with Mingyu...he's tall, handsome, has a sexy mysterious aura but is actually a lovable idiot! And even if I could, I'm not going to make a move on someone with a boyfriend...”

“Why are we so sure those two are together?” Jihoon asked. He generally didn't really care who dated who and as a result never paid so much attention to those kind of things.

“Oh please!” Hansol cried, “Haven't you seen the way they act together!” He hadn't just thought about his own feelings for his classmate, he had also gone over Mingyu and Seungkwan together and the more he had the more he had convinced himself that they were a couple.

Jeonghan nodded, eyebrows furrowed in thought, “I see your point. He has never mentioned dating anyone to us, but he might just want to keep things private. I do agree those two seem awfully chummy and I know for a fact Mingyu has been to his house multiple times.”

Hansol groaned.

“So what do you want from us?” Jihoon asked, he had gotten on his back and was staring up at the clouds. It was really too cold to be out here, but he liked the fresh air. Being inside the school all day made him feel trapped.

“I dunno, a little support! I just realized I'm...” he looked around checking if the always empty rooftop was indeed empty as if he hadn't already just talked about masturbation, “... _in love_ with Seungkwan and...”

“Ha! You owe me a coffee!” Jeonghan yelled out in Jihoon's direction.

“Shit.” Jihoon cursed under his breath.

“Y-you were betting on if I was going to fall in love with Seungkwan?”

“Yup. Well, more on if you'd find him attractive I guess.”

Jihoon sat back up and sighed. “It was my own mistake. Jeonghan is usually right about these things.”

Jeonghan beamed with questionable pride. “So.” he said directed at Hansol, “What are you going to do now?”

Another groan from Hansol.

“Suffer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hansol: 'hmm wonder if Seungkwan is gay.'  
> Also Hansol: 'omg he's dating Mingyu' T___T
> 
> Don't expect him to not be stupid and just ask Seungkwan about it. Do expect him to suffer silently, lol.
> 
> Next time is Seungkwan's birthday and it's sort of inspired by his bday vlive a few years ago (do you know which one I mean...)
> 
> (also....for those who have watched some BL movies/dramas...I have noticed that if they play a sport they almost always play basketball. I'm guessing it's the perfect sport for creating these type of close contact moments, lol)
> 
> Comments are <3


	14. HS1-13 January 16th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Seungkwan's birthday and Mingyu has a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello wonderful people of the fic reading community. I hope you're all healthy and doing okay~

After their talk on the roof, Jeonghan had suggested Hansol should have lunch with them and Seungkwan whenever they were having lunch in the cafeteria. Hansol, already feeling like the other people he usually sat with weren't such good friends, agreed. He was glad that he had. He got to spend more time with Seungkwan and he got to know one of their other friends, Seokmin, who also turned out to be really nice. They all came to cheer him and Seungkwan on during the first match of the basketball tournament. Seokmin had cheered a bit louder than he probably intended when Jaehyun made a nice move. Jeonghan had been convinced that Jaehyun had winked in Seokmin's direction when passing by after that, but Seokmin firmly denied it.

Lunchtime, however, turned out to be a double-edged sword. Because spending more time with Seungkwan meant spending more time with Mingyu and, what was bad about that, the way those two were with each other. Talking, laughing, bickering like an old married couple. All of it bad for Hansol's aching heart. But the lowest point up until then came about two weeks after Hansol had realized that he was in love.

Seungkwan and Hansol were walking to the cafeteria together when Jihoon caught up with them right as they entered, “There you are! Come on. Let's have lunch in the music room today.”

Seungkwan didn't stop walking and sat down at an empty table. “No.” he said firmly as Hansol sat down across from him. Jihoon was still standing. “You'll make us practice and I just want one lunch where I can actually eat in peace.”

Jihoon sat down next to Hansol with a sigh, admitting defeat rather easily.

Only a few moments later just when Seungkwan was about to start eating, Mingyu appeared besides him.

“Wait! Seungkwan, don't eat that!” he cried out.

Seungkwan stared down at his lunch to see what was wrong with it, “Why not?”

“Because...” Mingyu put down his bag with a loud thud, opened it and pulled out a bowl, a spoon, and a thermos that he placed in front of Seungkwan, “I made you special birthday soup!”

Seungkwan's eyes started to sparkle and a broad smile made its way onto his face, “Really?”

Mingyu nodded proudly like a dog wagging its tail after getting praised by its owner, “Yeah. Go on, try it!” He poured the soup into the bowl and Seungkwan took a spoonful of it.

“Wait, it's hot!” Mingyu stopped him from putting the soup into his mouth by placing his hand gently on Seungkwan's. He took the spoon from him and blew on it to cool it off. Seungkwan had to admit to himself that this kind of thing was definitely something he wouldn't mind a boyfriend doing.

Across the table both Jihoon and Hansol stared at the scene in horror. Jihoon because he was allergic to such public displays of cheesy affection, Hansol because not only had he not known it was Seungkwan's birthday but he had to witness Seungkwan getting spoon fed by Mingyu.

“How is it?” Mingyu asked with anticipation clear in his voice.

“It's great because you made it.”

Mingyu's smile turned into a pout, “What does that mean? Does it not taste good?”

“No, no, it's good! Just...a little salty.” Seungkwan's face contorted into an apologetic smile.

Mingyu filled the spoon again to try it for himself. He frowned at the soup. “I'm sorry...” he mumbled.

Seungkwan quickly yanked the spoon back from his friend and started eating again, “It's good! Really! Just a tiny bit too salty.”

Seungkwan finished the soup in no time and sighed dramatically, “A true friend.”

Jihoon glared at Mingyu, “Sure he made you soup, but did he decorate the music room and bring a cake to surprise you with?”

Seungkwan's eyes widened, “Is that why the rest of the guys aren't here? And why you wanted me to have lunch in the music room?”

Jihoon nodded, “Yeah, I was supposed to get you there. But I failed.”

Seungkwan jumped up, “You didn't try very hard! We should get over there! They're probably waiting.”

Jihoon stood up and Seungkwan was already pulling Mingyu up by his arm. “You coming, Hansol?”

He looked at Seungkwan. He didn't seem mad that he hadn't even wished him a happy birthday yet despite the fact the day was already halfway over. He nodded with a small smile. It wasn't like he could really say no.

When they entered the music room Seungkwan's face lit up and he pulled Seokmin (he was closest) in for a hug.

“Oh my gosh, you guys! Thank you so much! You didn't have to do all this! With the cake and the Happy Birthday sign and balloons!”

“You said you weren't going to have a party, but we wanted to do something.” Jisoo said and walked him over to the table with the cake.

Hansol saw his opportunity to grab Jeonghan and Jihoon, “Why didn't you tell me it's his birthday!” he hissed under his breath.

Jeonghan and Jihoon looked at each other and shrugged innocently, “We thought you knew.”

“Why would I know?”

“We knew.”

He let them go and stood on the side of the room by himself. He watched Mingyu get a piece of cake handed to him by the birthday boy and he averted his eyes. He hated feeling like this. So useless and stupid to feel this way.

“Here.”

Hansol jumped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Seungkwan holding up a piece of cake on a paper plate. He took it from him even though he wasn't in the mood for cake. “Thanks...”

Seungkwan was about to walk away again before Hansol spoke up. “Seungkwan?”

“Yes?”

“I'm so sorry...I didn't know it was your birthday today. I-”

“Don't worry about it! I probably didn't even tell you when my birthday is.”

“Everybody else knew...” he mumbled back.

Seungkwan leaned against the wall next to Hansol, “Hmm, that's true. Maybe you're just a bad friend.” He was only joking, but the expression on Hansol's face looked really hurt and he quickly went back on his statement, “I'm sorry! I was just kidding! You're not a bad friend! Really, don't worry about it!”

Suddenly Hansol had an idea and he perked right up, “Let me make it up to you! How about we go see a movie and I'll pay.”

Seungkwan crossed his arms and pretended to consider his offer, “How about popcorn?” he asked.

“The biggest one they've got!”

“Deal!” Seungkwan smiled. He would have been satisfied even without the popcorn.

“When do you want to go?” Hansol asked with a flutter in his stomach.

“Today! Otherwise it's not on my birthday!”

“So...right after school?”

“Yes! Oh shoot...wait a sec. Jihoon!” he yelled across the room, “I'm sooo sorry but I won't be able to make rehearsal after school today, but seeing as it is my birthday please forgive me. Hansol is going to take me to a movie!”

“What!?” It was Mingyu who responded instead of Jihoon, “You told me you were just going to have dinner with your mom at home!”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “I'm still doing that, but Hansol just offered to pay since it's my birthday. Like I'm going to say no to that. What do you care anyway. Not like _we_ had plans after school today.”

Mingyu pouted and took a big bite of cake. Hansol hadn't considered that maybe Mingyu had something else planned for after school. Or maybe he had but he didn't really mind stealing Seungkwan away for a bit.

Hansol felt his phone buzz and pulled it out to see a message from Jeonghan.

_So much for not making a move. And on his birthday no less. Sly._

He quickly texted back: _Not a move. Just a movie._

He looked up and saw Jeonghan staring at him from across the room.

_And wipe that smirk off your face! Gimme a break._

From all looks of things the movie really was just a movie. They went, they saw, they ate popcorn. But for Hansol it had meaning. He knew it was selfish but he was glad he got to spend this one-on-one time with Seungkwan on his birthday. He was happy to hear him laugh whenever something funny happened in the movie and he was grateful for the way their knees would occasionally touch in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sigh* That Birthday Vlive a few years ago was one of the softest Boogyu things ever
> 
> Personally I'd really dislike it if someone tried to feed me....like...I can do it myself, lol.
> 
> Please let me know how you're liking this fic~ 
> 
> Next time Hansol asks Seungkwan for some homework help, but ends up studying with him and Mingyu in the library (where Mingyu's crush is. I haven't named him yet, but...you know who it is...right?)
> 
> (btw, if you like the idea of Verkwan going to the movies together...feel free to read my one shot called 'The dating rules of popcorn' :3)


	15. HS1-14 The Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol gets some homework help from Seungkwan. Mingyu makes first contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not fic related but: I don't know if anybody who reads this is in an area where people have all gone crazy and bought all the food, but I hope all of you have food and other necessary supplies T___T (I get wanting to have some extra non-perishables or something, but why are some people buying fresh food in bulk as well??? What are you going to do with all that milk, sir?)

Seungkwan was humming softly as he put his math books away in his locker and got some other books out. He heard the sound of someone slumping against the locker next to him and he closed the door expecting to see Mingyu, but he found Hansol instead.

“Seungkwan, please...help me.” He groaned.

“With what?” Seungkwan said and leaned his shoulder against his own locker, somewhat amused by Hansol's sulky face.

“This paper. I...why did so much happen in history? Where do I even start!?”

Seungkwan chuckled. “The assignment is to write about a historical topic you find interesting. It can be anything, doesn't have to be everything.” The long history paper their teacher had assigned them right after the holidays was due in a few days but somehow Seungkwan wasn't surprised Hansol hadn't even decided on a topic yet.

“Wow. That was like a poem or something.” Hansol said with eyes that did little to hide his adoration from any third-party observant.

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow, not sure what was so awesome about what he had said, “Yeah....anyway. I can help you if you want. I'm heading to the library right now actually.”

Hansol stood up straight, “Really? Thanks!”

“I might not be as hopelessly behind as you, but I haven't finished yet either.” Seungkwan explained as they made their way to the library through the crowded hallway.

“It's not my fault!” Hansol said defensively, “We were so busy with basketball and I've had a lot on my mind.”

“Oh?” Seungkwan asked. He, of course, knew how much time had gone into basketball in the last few weeks with the tournament and all. Even though he had felt extremely frustrated and disappointed when they lost in their third match, he was kind of glad to have the extra time.

Hansol cursed himself in his head. He couldn't tell Seungkwan what had been on his mind lately because it was Seungkwan who was occupying his thoughts. “Nothing important. You know...video games and stuff.”

Seungkwan snorted. “In that case you have no excuse. I've been just as busy with basketball _and_ we've been preparing for the Battle of the Bands audition. It's only a few weeks away!”

“Oh yeah. How's that going?” Hansol was glad to take the focus off himself.

“Pretty good! Jihoon has been working on some songs, but he's such a perfectionist. But with all of us together we'll get there.”

“I'm sure you'll be awesome.”

They arrived at the library and Seungkwan seemed to know where he wanted to settle down because he walked straight over to a specific table. A table that wasn't empty. A table that had the one person Hansol didn't want to join this study session. Mingyu. He should have known Seungkwan wanted to study together with him.

“Hey.” he mumbled as he sat down at the table.

Despite the unwanted presence of who he considered to be an obstacle in his heart, it proved to be a fruitful afternoon. Seungkwan helped him pick a topic and he forced Hansol to focus so he actually got a bit of work done. He loved learning new things, but he hated studying and especially written assignments.

Seungkwan came back from a bathroom break with a paper in his hand.

“Gyu, I can't find this book. Can you go and ask the student assistant to help find it?”

Mingyu took the paper from him and grumbled, “Why do I have to do it? Do it yourself.”

Seungkwan sighed, “Go talk to the _student assistant_.” He knew Mingyu hadn't told anybody else about his crush on the boy who often helped out in the library so Seungkwan didn't want to make it too obvious in front of Hansol. He had made several attempts to get those two to talk to each other, but Mingyu was his own worst enemy when it came to social interactions and always backed off. Seungkwan had talked to him a few times by now and had found out that his name was Wonwoo, his glasses weren't just for show, and he was one of the few members of the school's book club.

“I'll do it. Give me the paper, Mingyu.” Hansol spoke up. If he was Seungkwan's boyfriend he most likely also would have told Seungkwan to do it himself, but he saw an opportunity to score some points with Seungkwan here.

“No, no.” Seungkwan said. “Mingyu is going to do it for me. Come on. Go, now. He's right there.”

Mingyu looked at Seungkwan with unsure eyes, but he nodded and slowly got up. The note with the book title scribbled on it firmly clasped in his hand.

Seungkwan leaned back and observed every move he made. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but at least Mingyu was saying _something_. And from the looks of it he was doing better than expected because Wonwoo smiled brightly. He looked at the paper while it was still in Mingyu's hand, even pulling his hand a bit closer to see better instead of just taking the paper from him. He lead Mingyu away, presumably to where-ever that book was, and Seungkwan's eyes followed for as long as they could. Even after they disappeared he kept his eyes focused on where they had been.

Meanwhile Hansol was mistaking Seungkwan's serious face of concentration as annoyance at the way Mingyu was clearly trying to flirt with that other guy. Maybe there was some trouble in paradise? He knew it wasn't nice to hope for it, but boy was he hoping for it.

“It's sure taking them a long time to find that book, huh?” Hansol said to Seungkwan, but the only response he got was a short agreeing hum.

“Oh, by the way.” Seungkwan said, finally letting his eyes leave the place Wonwoo and Mingyu were last at. “I'm bringing Mingyu to English club tomorrow. He got kicked out of his last club for never attending and Jisoo said it was okay as long as I make sure he actually shows up every once in a while.”

“Oh...cool.” Hansol's heart dropped. He didn't think it was _cool_ at all.

“It might be kind of good. That way you don't always have to get stuck with me for a conversation partner. You and I both know your English isn't getting better practicing with me. Our levels are totally different.”

“But I like talking with you. Even though you are right, you have a pretty low quality level.” he teased.

“Shut up. I am the best quality. Not in English though.”

They both laughed, trying to keep it to a library accepted volume.

Seungkwan felt his phone buzz and pulled it out of his pocket to read the messages that were undoubtedly coming from Mingyu.

**Gyu** : Help. I just checked out the book and left...I can't go back in. Please bring me my stuff

**Mr.Boo:** idiot!! Why did you leave???

**Gyu:** I don't know!! T___T Please come

Seungkwan sighed and started gathering his and Mingyu's things. “I'm sorry I have to go. Mingyu is outside and doesn't want to come back in. I'll see you tomorrow. Let me know if you need anymore help but I think you've got it!”

“Oh...yeah, I'm good. See you.”

Seungkwan stood up and walked away, brushing his hand across Hansol's shoulder as he walked passed. Probably a meaningless gesture to say goodbye, but Hansol's face felt warm.

Seungkwan waved at Wonwoo as he walked out of the library. He found Mingyu hiding a few meters away from the entrance. His face lit up when he saw Seungkwan and took his bag from him.

“I did it! I actually talked to him!”

Seungkwan sighed loudly, “Yeah, and then you ran away. What happened?”

“He doesn't know I ran away! He just thinks I needed to get that book and that was it.”

“Except that he had totally seen you studying at the table with me and Hansol before, so he must have known your stuff was still inside.”

Mingyu's eyes grew bigger, “Oh shit! Now he's going to think I'm an idiot! I AM an idiot!”

“Relax, relax. It's fine. From what I saw he was smiling and happy to talk to you, so don't worry about it! At least you've _finally_ made some sort of contact.”

Mingyu wrapped his arms around Seungkwan's shoulders and let out a high pitched squeal. “He's so cute, I can't!”

Seungkwan pushed him off, “If you're like this now, how bad is it going to be if you actually get a boyfriend.”

“Aww, don't worry, Kwannie. You're cute too!”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose, “This being in love thing is really messing with your brain.”

Mingyu giggled and playfully pushed Seungkwan's shoulder, “Maybe if you had a crush of your own you could join me and my messed up brain.”

Seungkwan scoffed at that, “As if I'd have time to crush on someone when I'm this busy supporting you. And between you and Hansol, I'm the only one in our class who actually pays attention. Where would you two be if you couldn't borrow my notes?”

“You're right. Please stay single forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -So, Mingyu's crush is Wonwoo (whaaaat I totally didn't see that coming /sarcasm)  
> -Next time will be prime suffering time for Hansol as Seungkwan and Mingyu practice their English together (spoiler: you know that classic Boogyu English talk in Seventeen TV? That was the main inspiration, so...)
> 
> (quick question for those of you lovely people who regularly leave me a comment: I always try to reply to every comment, but I have no idea if people like that?? Or do you think it's annoying? Or is it just whatever? I do it because I want to show my appreciation...but I dunno, lol)


	16. HS1-15 Like a Banana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu's and Seungkwan's English skills horrify Hansol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one isn't so long, but I hope you enjoy~

“ _How do you think about...that_?”

“ _Yeah! I...eh...I love it_.” Seungkwan had no idea what Mingyu was talking about in English and he was sure his replies didn't make much sense either, but at least they were saying something that was some type of foreign language. “ _I love it. I love you._ ” His brain was just coming up with any and all English that he knew.

Mingyu giggled, “ _Oh, me too._ ” He took Seungkwan's hand without even thinking about it. “ _How do you think about me?_ ” he asked.

Seungkwan hummed like he was thinking and tangled their fingers together. “ _I love you..._ ” Seungkwan said through giggles and an embarrassed smile.

“ _That's the end?_ ” Mingyu asked, wanting his friend to give him more. He felt giddy and happy today and for once he wasn't thinking about how he was coming of to those around him.

Seungkwan thought again and felt his poetic juices started to flow, “ _Like...eh...like a sea. I love you._ ”

“ _Oh, me too. You...like a banana._ ” He burst out in an uncharacteristically loud giggle causing a few heads to turn.

“ _Banana?_ ” Seungkwan would have been annoyed at Mingyu's incoherent English, but his own wasn't much better. So instead he was just having fun with it, even if they probably looked like idiots.

“ _Banana_.”

“ _Tomato?_ ”

“ _Apple!_ ”

“ _Apple._ ”

“ _Apple._ ”

Meanwhile Hansol was losing his mind and suffering in silence. Were they talking in some sort of code? Back in the library he thought to have seen a crack in their relationship, but today they were all over each other. He looked over at Jisoo who had been listening in, probably to check their English, and from the look on his face Hansol gathered he was thinking the same thing. In a way he was glad they were getting it out of their system during English club time instead of during regular class or lunchtime. At least here no one seemed to really care.

“ _Pineapple!_ ” Mingyu continued their weird fruit conversation and both he and Seungkwan couldn't contain their laughter. It was as if the word _pineapple_ was the funniest thing ever to them.

Jisoo decided that this nonsense had gone on long enough and decided to put an end to it. “Okay, guys. That was, eh, great. Keep working on it, but let's call it a day for now.”

Seungkwan and Mingyu continued to laugh with each other and Hansol quickly got his stuff. He just wanted to get out of there. He was glad he was meeting Jihoon and Jeonghan on the roof after this. Before he reached the door, however, he was stopped by Jisoo.

“Hey, Hansol. Can I ask you something?”

“Eh, yeah, sure.” He threw a quick glance to the back of the room, but Seungkwan and Mingyu still only had eyes for each other.

“You hang out with Jeonghan and Jihoon on the roof sometimes, right? Did...does Jeonghan ever say anything about me?”

“Like what?”

“You know what? Nevermind!” Jisoo said panicked and he chuckled nervously. “I'll see you around.” He walked away before Hansol could say or ask anything else.

{rooftop}

Hansol pushed the door open and found Jeonghan and Jihoon already there, passing a joint between them. He hoped they weren't too baked yet. He needed to rant.

“Guys. I hate my life.” He threw his bag on the floor and sat down across from them.

Jihoon handed him the joint. “Let me guess. Seungkwan?”

Hansol took a drag and handed it to Jeonghan. “You should have seen him with Mingyu just now! They were holding hands and saying how much they love each other! Right in front of everybody! He even said that he loves him _like a banana_!? What the fuck does that even mean? That has to be some sort of gay dick joke right?”

Jeonghan let out a loud snort.

“Like a banana. That's hilarious.” Jihoon snickered to himself.

Hansol kicked his shoe. “I'm glad you find my suffering amusing.”

“I find dick jokes amusing.” Jeonghan laughed.

Hansol sighed. Why had he ever entrusted these two with his problem? He took the joint again and felt himself calming down a bit. Maybe after a few more drags he would be able to see the funny side of it. He looked at Jeonghan, still entertained by the thought of bananas and their phallic properties, “Oh, that reminds me. Something kinda weird happened. Jisoo asked me if you ever talk about him.” he said directed at Jeonghan.

The smile disappeared from Jeonghan's face, “Jisoo did? What did he mean?”

Hansol shrugged, “I don't know. I asked him that and he told me to nevermind. Aren't you two close friends? Did something happen?”

Jeonghan bit his lip and shook his head, but the look in his eyes told a different story.

“Maybe he's worried you're up here complaining about him as your guitar teacher.” Jihoon joked.

Jeonghan couldn't laugh. “I hope not...he's been a really great teacher.”

Jihoon scooted over and nudged him with his shoulder, “Dude, I was just kidding. I'm sure he doesn't think that. You didn't get into a fight or anything, did you?”

“No. Everything is...fine.” Jeonghan replied. Jihoon and Hansol looked at each other but didn't press the issue further. Hansol didn't have room in his brain for it anyway. It was at full capacity with thoughts about Seungkwan and Mingyu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -If you're thinking "wtf were they talking about?' you clearly haven't seen the amazing pre-debut Booygyu vid that this chapter is based on (I basically took their conversation right from there, lol.)  
> -Maybe someday in the future I'll write a one-shot about what's going on with Jeonghan and Jisoo
> 
> Next time: It's time for their Battle of the Bands audition and they're going to celebrate Hansol and Seokmin's birthdays
> 
> (this is completely irrelevant to everything but I just checked my browser's spellcheck suggestion for 'Boogyu' and it's 'Booby' lol)


	17. HS1-16 Audition & a Sundae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for their Battle of the Bands audition. Afterward they're going to celebrate Hansol and Seokmin's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...looking at the timeline we're in February now. :D Enjoy~

“Hansol! You and Seokmin share a birthday, right?”

Hansol closed his locker and looked at Seungkwan smiling brightly next to him. He nodded in response to Seungkwan's question. “Yeah. I mean...he's older, but yeah.”

“OK, so, your birthday is next Tuesday, but we have our Battle of the Bands audition this Saturday and we're going out to celebrate Seok's birthday after that and we all thought it would be nice to make it a double celebration.”

“Oh like his birthday and passing the audition?”

Seungkwan furrowed his brows together, “...are you serious? No, you weirdo, a double birthday celebration. Yours and Seok's!”

“Oh...oh! No, that's okay! You guys don't have to do that.”

“Do what? Doesn't it sound like fun?” Seungkwan pouted and it made Hansol want to slam his head into the locker. But before he could do that or respond in any other way, the fellow soon-to-be birthday boy walked by and wrapped an arm around Seungkwan's shoulder.

“Hansol! Did Seungkwan tell you about the birthday thing?” Seokmin's smile was even brighter than Seungkwan's had been.

“Nevermind, Seok.” Seungkwan sighed. “He doesn't want to hang out with us to celebrate his birthday.”

“Wa...I didn't say that! That's not what I meant! I would love to, I just thought that...You know what. Nothing. Let's do it.” Truth was he that was grateful they wanted to celebrate his birthday. He had just thought Seokmin's birthday would take priority. It was true he had been spending more time with all of them, but he couldn't deny that they all seemed a lot closer to each other than to him. With the exception of Mingyu maybe, but he was mostly close to Seungkwan.

“Perfect! It's settled then! We'll go rock our audition and then go out and celebrate!” Seokmin beamed at him.

“Oh! Hansol!” Seungkwan suddenly exclaimed, “You should watch our audition! It would be nice to have a friendly face there. I mean, Mingyu will be there too but he's already heard what we're going to play and he'll cheer for anything. Oh that reminds me, Seok. Mingyu is coming too Saturday.”

“Of course he's coming!”

“Oh, you already knew?”

“I know you two are close, but you're not his only friend you know!”

“So, will you come?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Hansol had made it a habit to either spend lunch by himself on the roof or with some of the people from the basketball club whenever they were practicing in the music room, because he didn't want to invade their practice time. But he supposed Mingyu hadn't had that same line of thought. He couldn't really imagine what it was going to be like to watch Seungkwan and the others perform on stage. He hoped they were good so he wouldn't have to fake-smile at them afterward.

{audition}

The members of the music club, along with Mingyu, stood in the reception space of the Battle of the Bands venue. Jihoon had signed them in and they were about to be led to the audition space by a staff member.

“We have to go backstage to get ready, so I'll see you later. You go on inside with Hansol. Look, there he is.” Seungkwan said to Mingyu as he nodded his head in the direction of the entrance.

Mingyu looked over at Hansol who was just arriving and leaned in so he could whisper in Seungkwan's ear, “I don't think he likes me all that much...we only sort of talk to each other when you're around...”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes and pushed Mingyu in Hansol's direction, “I'm sure he likes you! Don't worry.” He waved to Hansol and followed the other members backstage. For the audition there wasn't much of an audience and it was really just them performing two songs without proper lighting or anything.

The band right before them wasn't all that good, but Jihoon reminded them to never compare themselves to others. “If we pass just by being better than what else is on that stage it doesn't mean we were actually good, just better than some other band.”

Seungkwan wanted to get this audition over with. He had been looking forward to it, but now that it was finally time he found it to be much more nerve-wrecking than he would have thought. But out of all of them, Jeonghan seemed to be the most nervous. Jisoo took his hand to calm him down.

“You've got this. You've practiced very hard and it's amazing how good you've gotten already. No-one out there will know you just started a few months ago. Okay?”

Jeonghan nodded and he didn't let go of Jisoo's hand until the very last second before going on stage.

As Seungkwan stepped on stage and took his place behind the microphone he quickly scanned the seats to find Mingyu and Hansol. When he locked his eyes on them Mingyu immediately broke into a smile and mouthed an inaudible ' _fighting_ ' to encourage him.

Mingyu had heard them rehearse several times so he knew what was coming music wise, but seeing his friends on an actual stage was something else. Not in the last place because he had started this school year completely alone. The moment they started playing he felt the excitement and nerves swirl together along with a sense of pride.

“Aren't they amazing!” He said to Hansol who was sitting next to him. He didn't get a reply, but when he looked over he saw Hansol staring at the stage completely mesmerized. He didn't seem to snap out of it until the last note was played. “They're really good, right?” Mingyu tried again, his eyes on the stage and clapping his hands with vigor.

“Y-yeah! Wow.” Hansol wasn't sure what else to say. He had never seen any of them perform before. He couldn't believe how cool Jihoon, the cute guy he got high with, was. Not to mention Jeonghan and Jisoo. Seokmin had a totally different energy on stage, too. But what really got him was Seungkwan. He was completely blown away. His voice and his face as he sang sucked him in and took his breath away. If it wasn't for Mingyu sitting next to him, reminding him that he wasn't the only one looking at Seungkwan, he would have completely drowned in his feelings.

{Ice cream cafe}

“Here's to us!” Jisoo said with an elegant sense of poise as he raised his glass. The audition had been successful and they had relocated to a cafe where they served humongous sundaes for the celebratory part of their day.

Most of the others joined him in raising their glass and cheered. Jihoon, however, halfheartedly lifted his glass and let out a sound that was more a grunt than a cheer.

“What's wrong with you?” Jeonghan asked, “We got through, Hoonie! Let's celebrate!”

“They said we should try to have a bit more _edge_ at the real show. What does that even mean?” Jihoon wasn't opposed to getting constructive criticism, but the comment made by one of the judges was one he didn't know what to do with and he let it bother him more than it probably should.

“Subtle nudity?” Jeonghan suggested and earned a slap on his arm from Jisoo. “No, but guys, sex sells! How about a deep v-neck or a pair of pants that accent Seungkwan's ass?” he suggested in a way where the others didn't know if he was kidding or not.

“I'm literally sixteen.” Seungkwan replied with a scrunched up face.

“We aren't the only band with underage members. I'm sure there will be plenty of people our age in the audience!”

“And you want to show them my ass?”

“Raise your hand if you think Seungkwan has a great ass!”

Mingyu raised his hand and Seungkwan looked at him like he was shocked and offended, but he couldn't keep it up and a shy giggle escaped him. “Shut up, you guys.”

“Yes, please.” Jihoon added. “I'd like us to focus on the music. But if you _really_ want, you can wear something sexy, Jeonghan. At least you're technically an adult.”

“N-no, I didn't mean _me_!”

“I wouldn't mind seeing that.” Jisoo laughed, but immediate regretted it and turned red when he met Jeonghan's eyes. Jeonghan turned equally red and they both took a sip from their drinks.

“Happy birthday to Seokmin and Hansol!” Seungkwan suddenly yelled out and the rest chimed in, probably thankful for the change in topic. They let the issue of 'edge' and whatever that meant go for the moment and ordered their ice cream. They let the birthday boys decide which ones to get. Given the size of the sundaes they only ordered two for the table. After ordering, Jeonghan excused himself for a moment and he asked the staff to add some sparklers.

Seokmin and Seungkwan's loud reactions to the sparklers were more fitting of a little child seeing such a thing for the first time, but it made the others laugh. They all picked up a spoon and started attacking the sundaes. Hansol was glad he was seated across from Seungkwan. It gave him a nice view of his delighted face everytime he took a bite. As long as Mingyu and Seungkwan wouldn't start feeding each other, he counted himself lucky with the best seat in the whole place.

“Oh my...Hansol, you have to try this! It's so good!” Seungkwan scooped one of the flavors of ice cream on his spoon and held it out over the table so that Hansol could eat it. He didn't look him in the eye as he ate the ice cream off of Seungkwan's spoon, trying very hard not to think about the fact that this very spoon had been inside of Seungkwan's mouth.

“Seungkwan, I want to try it too. Give me some.” Mingyu pouted next to Seungkwan.

“Get your own. You have a spoon, don't you?”

“Wha- You gave some to Hansol!”

“It's his birthday!”

“Here. I'll feed you some, Mingyu.” Seokmin said with a smile as he scooped up some ice cream.

Hansol basked in the delightful feeling of having Seungkwan pay special attention to him until he looked over and he was met with Jihoon's raised eyebrow and Jeonghan's knowing smirk. He quickly took a too large a bite of ice cream on his spoon and gulped it down. He cursed under his breath when he got brain freeze. Still. A pretty good birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on my personal experience seeing Seungkwan sing live for the first time is indeed an explosion of emotions. T__T I feel you, Hansol.
> 
> Hansol is a bit insecure about his friendships, I guess? He'll get better at realizing they're really his friends and will just always have lunch with them ^^
> 
> I hope people who are in quarantine right now aren't going crazy yet! I think the next chapter is sort of funny (but also cute?) so might just post it very quickly...


	18. HS1-17 Are you busy, Boo?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol is bored, but luckily Seungkwan is there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ I hope people are having an okay weekend ._.

With no tournaments, auditions, or birthdays coming up, the weeks just glided by. Of course Seungkwan was still busy, but after the hectic time he had right after the Winter vacation this time felt like a welcome quiet. It seemed not everyone felt that way. One day after class when he was about to leave he found Hansol moping around the school grounds, kicking small stones without purpose.

“What's wrong with you?” He asked with a chuckle.

Hansol shrugged, “Nothing...I'm just bored. I have nothing to do.” He looked up at Seungkwan. “Are you busy, Boo?” He had never called Seungkwan 'Boo' outside of his head before, but it kind of just slipped out. He hoped Seungkwan didn't mind.

“Not particularly.” Seungkwan replied, not unaware of the way Hansol had addressed him. If it had been Mingyu he might have objected since it almost sounded like a cute pet-name despite the fact it was just his last name. But coming from Hansol he didn't mind. “Oh! I just realized you've never been to my house! You can come over and we'll find something to do.”

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Alone with Seungkwan at his house? How could Hansol say no to that. “You take the bus right? I came by bike today. You can ride on the back if you want?”

“Are you sure? I can also just give you directions if that's easier.”

“Eh, no.” Hansol was quickly working on a good reason why it was essential he rode on his bike with him, “If you do that I might forget or I'd have to look at my phone or something, so I think it's better if we take my bike together.”

He wasn't used to having someone ride with him, but after a bit of a wobbly start they were on their way to Seungkwan's house. Hansol had secretly hoped that Seungkwan would find it necessary to hold onto him for balance, but he apparently managed not to fall off without the added steadiness Hansol could provide. He wanted to tell him that it was okay to wrap his arms around him, but of course he didn't. “So have all the other guys been to your house?” Hansol asked instead.

“Hmm, no actually. Mingyu comes over a lot and Seokmin came over once, but that's about it.”

“Oh, you just made it sound like I was the only one who had never been to your house before.”

“I did?” Seungkwan laughed at that. “Well, no. We already hang out a lot in the music room because we use it to rehearse. Anything else we do is usually get some food or drink someplace.”

This information for some reason made Hansol feel special. He was glad not everybody went over to Seungkwan's house and yet he was. The fact that Mingyu evidently came over ' _a lot'_ was a little side note he tried not to think about.

{Seungkwan's house}

“Do you want something to drink? Seungkwan asked as he opened the front door. “You must be thirsty after that bike ride. I probably should have just taken the bus. I'm sorry.”

“No, it was no trouble, really. It's more fun to ride together. I'd like something to drink though. Anything is fine.”

“I have some video games in my room. Not a lot, but some.” Seungkwan suggested. He hardly ever played any of the games he had. Most of them were fighting games and shooters that his dad had bought him. Maybe he thought if his son played a lot of aggressive games it would make him less gay or something.

“Okay. Show me what you got. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll beat you anyway.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “Pretty big talk for a guy who couldn't even get a little plush toy from a crane game.”

“I beat you at almost everything else!”

They both laughed as Seungkwan led the way to his bedroom. He opened the door and approached his bed to sit down on. He saw something lying on it and without realizing what is was picked it up. As soon as he did realize, he let out a shocked yelp and his face turned bright red.

“What do you have there, Boo?” Hansol asked with a chuckle and Seungkwan, in his panic, turned around with the object still in his hand.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing!”

Hansol looked down and saw that what Seungkwan was holding were, unmistakably, condoms. Seungkwan also looked at his hand and another yelp escaped him. “I, eh, it was my mom, okay! She's a nurse, she- I-”

“Oh...did she think Mingyu was coming over?” There was a visual Hansol didn't need.

“What!?” Seungkwan yelled out, hoping the ground would swallow him and save him from this situation.

“You have a nice mom that she leaves you condoms so you can have sex with your boyfriend.”

“What!? He's not-, I don't-...we-”

“It's okay Seungkwan, I won't tell anyone.” As much as he hated the thought of Seungkwan needing condoms he didn't want him to feel bad about it.

“There is nothing to tell! And I definitely don't need these.” He opened the drawer of his nightstand and threw the condoms in it.

“For someone who doesn't need them you sure keep them close to your bed.” Hansol teased and started laughing at Seungkwan's face that hadn't gone down in redness. The whole situation was just sort of hilarious. It was destroying his heart, but in a funny kind of way.

“Just...forget this ever happened. Please.”

“Already forgotten.” A lie. “So...video game?”

Seungkwan sat on his bed and Hansol had settled down in front of it, leaning against it next to Seungkwan's legs that dangled of the edge. On the other side of him stood the nightstand that he tried to ignore for the good of his own sanity. They played one of Seungkwan's games for a while until Seungkwan got bored with it. At least they had played long enough for the awkwardness to have passed. On the surface, at least.

“Let's take a selfie.” Seungkwan suggested.

“What?”

Seungkwan slid down from the bed and landed right next to Hansol with his phone in hand. “A selfie. We don't have any pictures of us together. How can we call ourselves friends like this.”

He held up his phone with one hand and made a peace sign with the other. Hansol tried his best to focus on taking the picture, but Seungkwan was so close. Their arms were touching and he could smell the scent of his shampoo.

“Would it kill you to smile?” Seungkwan asked.

“S-sorry. I'm not good at taking pictures.”

“Let's use a silly filter or something. It won't matter so much if you smile or whatever. Do you want to be a bear or a cat?”

“Eh...a bear?” Hansol wasn't much for taking selfies, let alone with cute filters. But the level of discomfort he felt while taking the pictures was well worth it since he got to see a new level of Seungkwan's adorableness that he didn't even think to be possible.

The whole afternoon had been mentally draining and so he lied and told Seungkwan his mother wanted him home for dinner. Later that night he was on his bed staring at the pictures he had taken with Seungkwan. They had been so close. So close. If they were dating he would have kissed him. First on the cheek for a cute picture. Then on the lips. As his mind started to think about what it would be like to be Seungkwan's boyfriend the condoms on Seungkwan's bed, now in his nightstand, flew by and crushed his dreams. He turned around on his stomach and groaned loudly into the pillow.

{Next day, rooftop}

“Condoms! He had condoms! Right there on his bed!”

“For you and him?” Jihoon asked like it wasn't a big deal.

“Of course not! Obviously for him and Mingyu! He said his mom must have left them there and that part might be true, but they were definitely meant for hot sweaty sex with Mingyu!” Hansol ranted on.

“Aren't you overreacting a little bit? Even if he is having sex with Mingyu it might be bad sex...” Jeonghan weighed in.

“That is NOT helping!”

“Well, what do you want us to do about it?” Jihoon asked, “I get that you want to be the one Seungkwan has sex with, but-”

“That is not what this is about! This is not about _sex_!”

“Then what is it about?”

“About...it's about...it's about me being unable to deal with the boy I'm in love with being with someone else. It sucks!”

“Sucks...hehe.” Jeonghan snickered.

“Seriously!?”

“Dude, I've never seen you so worked up over _anything_.”

Hansol groaned and kicked a small stone away, “I know. I feel like I'm going crazy.”

“You want to know what I think?” Jeonghan asked.

“Yes, please.”

“Either you tell him how you feel or you keep a bit more distance between the two of you. Don't hang out with him alone and don't do stuff where you get close to him.”

“I can't tell him how I feel...”

“Honestly, I don't know why not.” Jihoon said. “I know it's morally questionable, but there isn't a law against confessing your feelings to someone who's already dating someone else. I mean, I like Mingyu and they're cute together so you might get rejected and then you'll be the person who, unsuccessfully, tried to steal someone's boyfriend, but...hmm, no, I guess I get your point.”

“You know, I'm a little bit offended he hasn't told us they're dating.” Jeonghan said with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. “I see the signs, but he's never just come out and said it.”

Jihoon eyed Jeonghan, “Yeah, you would think if a good friend is dating someone, they would tell you about it, wouldn't you? Especially if it's _two_ friends.”

Jeonghan avoided his friend's gaze, “Actually, now that I think about it, we must respect their privacy more. They'll tell us when they're ready to go public with their relationship. Sorry you have to suffer, Hansol. I'm heading to class. Bye.”

And with that Jeonghan left.

Hansol leaned against the wall. “Don't fall in love, Jihoon. It's a trap.”

“Yeah, I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -You know, the way Boogyu are I don't even blame all of them for thinking they're dating  
> -Hansol be like: ah, condoms, for you and your boyfriend Mingyu. Seungkwan: He's not. Hansol: why are they having sex T___T  
> -I forgot how I came up with this plotline, but I thought it was kinda funny   
> -Next time Mingyu and Seungkwan talk about what happened and it leads to a more intimate 'talk' about s-e-x


	19. HS1-18 Finding out together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan tells Mingyu about what happened the other day when Hansol came over and they decide to explore a few new things together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ Right now I'm trying to post a bit more for the people stuck at home and/or are just stressed about the state of the world right now. Hopefully a small distraction like this helps a bit!

Seungkwan had tried his hardest to forget the whole condom incident. Hansol hadn't mentioned it again nor did he act any different and Seungkwan was grateful for that. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to him in the first place. But the whole thing jolted back into his memory when Mingyu came over and sat down on his bed. He hadn't even told him about it yet. “Oh my god, you won't believe the most embarrassing thing ever in my life happened to me when Hansol came over here the other day!”

“Hansol came over?” Mingyu asked as he leaned back onto his arms.

“Yeah, he was bored so I took him home. Or he took me home I guess, since he gave me a ride on his bike. Anyway, we came up here to play some video games and I saw something on my bed so I picked it up. Turned out my mom had left condoms on my bed! _Condoms!_ And he saw them.”

Mingyu burst out laughing. “Oh. My. God. Did he think you wanted to use them with him?”

“It's not funny! I was so embarrassed! And it's not as if Hansol Vernon Chwe would want to have sex with me.”

“I dunno...he might be an ass-man.” Mingyu, still laughing, joked.

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes and kicked Mingyu's foot, “Please stop. I don't need another one of my friends obsessing over my ass. Jeonghan is enough.”

“I can't believe your mom just put them on your bed.”

“I know right! I haven't asked her yet why the hell she left _condoms_ on my bed. Actually, I don't think I'm going to ask her. I'm already dying enough.” Seungkwan sat down onto his bed next to Mingyu and sighed.

“She...she doesn't think _we're_ together, does she?” Mingyu asked with slightly shocked eyes. He knew he was over here a lot and he and Seungkwan were clingy at times, but he surely hoped his mother didn't think they were having sex.

“I don't think so. I've told her you're just a friend. Besides, even if we were together we wouldn't be having sex.”

“Oh.”

“Oh my god, don't be offended at us not having sex in a non-existing situation!” Seungkwan slapped Mingyu on the arm.

“I'm not offended!” Mingyu said, rubbing his arm. “I just don't want your mom to think that I come over here to...for that.”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose, “You're right. Me neither. Maybe I _should_ talk to her.”

“Seungkwan?” Mingyu asked without looking at him and with a much more serious demeanor than before.

“Hm?”

“I was just wondering...have you ever...used condoms before?”

“W-what?”

Mingyu bit his lip and looked at him, “Well, have you?”

“N-no.” Seungkwan answered honestly.

Mingyu was blushing and a bit hesitant to talk about this, but at the same time he wanted to ask more. “But...you do know how _it_ works right?”

“Why are you asking me this?” Seungkwan's face was now matching Mingyu's in terms of blushing.

“I just...I think I know how, I mean I do, but...at school they really only talk about the male-female baby-make-sex. How am I supposed to figure out from that how to have sex with another guy.”

Seungkwan nodded and bit his lip. Mingyu was right. They had learned all about how sex works if your goal is to procreate, but school didn't discuss anything for same-sex partners. Besides that, Seungkwan was sure there were all sorts of other ways to engage in sexual conduct, but at school they definitely didn't like to talk about how sex can be pleasurable. They loved to scare them with STDs though (and pregnancy, but that didn't apply to them so much).

“I'm not saying I'm planning to have sex anytime soon, but you never know what happens, right? I just think...isn't it better if we know how it works before we actually do it?” Mingyu continued.

“We could...find out together.”

Seungkwan's suggestion left the room quiet, but Mingyu nodded.

**< >**

Seungkwan slowly closed his laptop. “Well...that was...educational.”

“Educational!?” Mingyu yelled out, “I think you mean traumatizing!” Mingyu's eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open.

They had just finished watching several videos on the gay section of a porn website. Neither of them had any idea what to watch so Seungkwan had just clicked randomly and that might have been a mistake.

“It wasn't so bad!” Seungkwan replied, images of it still stuck to his eyes, “They seemed to enjoy it. I guess.”

“But it was so...so...” Mingyu couldn't even find the right words.

“Aggressive?” Seungkwan offered.

Mingyu nodded, “Yes! Where was the tender caressing or sweet kisses or...or something!”

“This was porn, not a romantic movie.” Seungkwan pointed out. “Maybe we just didn't watch the right stuff...”

They had most definitely not watched the right stuff for learning anything about sex between two loving partners that wasn't purely focused on the physical aspect of sex and satisfying certain fantasies and fetishes. The worst had been a video that involved a lot more than two people and it had Mingyu covering his face with his hands and yelling at Seungkwan to change it.

“Seungkwan, I don't think I can ever have sex. At least not like that.”

“I kinda get what you mean...but I do think that it can also be kind of nice.”

“That looked _nice_ to you!?” Mingyu yelled out in disbelief. Was his best friend secretly a kinky little bastard?

“No! Not what we just saw. But isn't sex also about being physically close to someone you're emotionally close to? I think that might be nice. Some day...”

Mingyu sighed, “Yeah, maybe. I mean...kissing is nice. Maybe sex is just like a more intense version of kissing? Or like...masturbation for two.”

“Isn't that sort of exactly what it is? And going from what we just saw there are _a lot_ of things you can do. At least some of that must be nice, why else would everybody want to do it? I just hope I never end up with someone who wants to have sex like _that_.” He eyed his laptop again. He had to admit that while the videos they just watched were a bit daunting, it had also made him curious about what real sex, outside of porn, was like. But he was perfectly fine waiting to find out. Unlike the act of kissing he wanted sex to be with someone he was actually in a relationship with. Someone he cared about and who cared about him. Maybe if Mingyu got together with his crush he could go ahead and lose his virginity first. That way he could tell him how it was.

“Do you think any of our friends have had sex before?” Mingyu wondered out loud.

Seungkwan took a moment to think. As of right now, as far as he knew, all of their friends were single and the only one he was sure has had any kind of relationship was Jihoon. But even that was a question-mark because from what he had gathered it wasn't even clear to the others with who or for how long. So Seungkwan shook his head, “I don't know. I highly doubt Seokmin has. He can't even _talk_ to any guy he finds attractive. I don't think Jisoo would ever have sex outside of a committed relationship and he hasn't been in any I think. No idea about Jihoon and Jeonghan. Hansol also no idea.”

“Seungkwan, I just thought of something. Is Hansol gay?”

Seungkwan realized at that moment that he had never really thought about it. “I don't know actually. He's never said anything about liking boys or girls and I honestly don't know what kind of vibe I get from him. I just sort of assumed he's straight which is kind of ironic of me.”

“I mean...birds of a feather...literally everybody we're friends with is at least into guys.”

“I guess he might be. But at the same time he's never said anything and if there is a group of people at our school you can come out to it's our group, isn't it? So...maybe he just doesn't have any coming out to do?”

“Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost ALMOST broke this one up in two pieces and cut it off after they decide to 'find out together', because I know it totally sounds like they were about to do it, lol. But I decided not to be evil with cliffhangers today :D (also...they're not ready to go there yet!)
> 
> not at Seungkwan saying "He was bored so I took him home" like Hansol is a little puppy or something
> 
> We're getting closer to Battle of the Bands and that night will be pivotal in a number of relationships. But first: they need to name the band and Seungkwan wants to know the story behind Jihoon dying his hear red last summer.


	20. HS1-19 Band Names and Tall Guys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're trying to decide on a band name and Jihoon's dating past gets revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idek

The whole condom incident was not forgotten, but also not brought up again by any party involved. Seungkwan and Hansol continued their friendship as usual (with Hansol pining and Seungkwan unaware). Seungkwan had to admit he had become somewhat intrigued by Hansol's sexuality after Mingyu had brought it up, but he restrained himself from asking about it. He hoped that if Hansol felt the need to talk about it, he would, but he didn't want to bring it up in case it was a sensitive issue for him. Besides, it didn't really matter, did it? He was his friend no matter what.

It was a little while later and Seungkwan was spending his lunch break in the music room. The band members were supposed to discuss some band related things, but Jeonghan and Jisoo were missing. Jihoon clicked his tongue looking at his phone to see if he had maybe missed any messages, “How come Mingyu, who isn't even in the band, can be here on time for band meetings, but they can't?”

“Aren't those two a bit too into their own world lately?” Seungkwan sighed. “This isn't the first time they're late together.”

“Maybe their class ran late?” Seokmin suggested.

Jihoon scoffed, “Doubt it.”

As he said it the door to the music room opened. “Speak of the devil.” Jihoon said when Jisoo and Jeonghan walked in.

“Sorry, we thought we were having lunch in the cafeteria today.” Jeonghan apologized as they sat down.

Jihoon narrowed his eyes at the pair, “No, you didn't. I texted the group chat earlier where we were and Jisoo replied.”

“Oh, ehm, but Jeonghan had already gone to the cafeteria so I went to go get him.” Jisoo stammered back.

Jihoon nodded and pursed his lips, unconvinced. “Anyway, we really have to-”

As he spoke he got interrupted by the door opening again. This time it was Hansol. The last few times that he hadn't joined them for lunch when they were in the music room he had always gotten a message asking him where he was or if he was coming. Sometimes it came from Seungkwan, sometimes Jeonghan or Jisoo. So now he, like Mingyu, would hang around the music room while the others practiced during lunch.

“Hansol, I'm glad you're here!” Seungkwan said with a smile and he held out his hand to beckon him closer, “We have to let the Battle of the Bands organizer know our band name, but we can't decide.”

Hansol walked over and sat down next to Seungkwan, “What are the options?”

Seungkwan let out a loud sigh, “Okay, I'm going to be honest with you. We haven't been able to come up with anything even remotely good.”

“The best I came up with was ' _Closet Boys_ '.” Seokmin mumbled.

“And I think it was Jisoo who suggested the terrible ' _Back_ _Entrance Parade_ ' or ' _BEP_ ' as he liked to call it.” Jeonghan snorted.

“As if ' _Rainbow Dust Blaster_ _s_ ' was any better!” Jisoo shot back.

“So basically...” Mingyu said with a mouth full of food, “...they're looking for something that is kind of gay, but not _too_ obvious.”

“Yeah, but it also has to fit a _rock_ band.” Jihoon answered with a groan.

“So? Any suggestions?” a hopeful Seungkwan asked of Hansol.

“How about, eh, ' _Skeletons in the Closet_ '? It's like...rockish because skeletons, but it's also about being in the closet and also how people think of being gay as something bad. But you guys can show them how awesome and fabulous those skeletons can be.” He finished with a shrug, “But I don't know.”

The band members shared looks and nodded. “It's a lot better than anything we've been able to come up with.” Jihoon said. The others nodded. “Let's just go with that then.” Jeonghan added.

“Thank you so much, Sollie!”

“ _Sollie_ ” Hansol thought to himself and hoped that his efforts to hide his blush were effective.

“Well, with that out of the way I have another question.” Seungkwan said suddenly. “Is anyone ever going to tell me the story of red hair Jihoon?”

“Red hair Jihoon?” Mingyu asked, looking over at him.

“Apparently Jihoon dyed his hair a bright red last summer out of nowhere, despite never having done more to his hair than run a comb through it every once in a while. Now I've managed to see some photographic evidence of this era, but I still haven't heard why it happened in the first place.” Seungkwan explained. “It's been on my mind for ages.”

“Maybe he just wanted to try something different?” Hansol suggested. He knew Jihoon quite well by now and he was pretty sure he wasn't all that keen on discussing the issue.

“You know how they say that girls often get a drastic haircut after a break-up...” Mingyu said jokingly, but it wasn't met with much laughter from the person in question.

“Are you calling me a girl?”

“I think he was just suggesting that maybe boys do that too.” Seungkwan weighed in.

“Well, maybe they do. Can we drop it?”

“Wait, it's true!?” Mingyu and Seungkwan stared at him with big eyes.

“Whatever, okay? Yes, I dated someone and yes, we broke up when he left for college last summer. It wasn't a big deal.”

“You dated a _senior_!?” Seokmin exclaimed. He had known that Jihoon had been dating someone for a few months last year, but he never knew who it was. Jihoon wasn't one to say much about his romantic life, even to his friends. “I can't believe we didn't know about this! Did he go to this school?”

“He used to hang with us on the roof.” Jeonghan replied without thinking and he immediately shut himself up with an apologetic look in Jihoon's direction.

“You knew who it was!?”

“Wait a minute...” Jisoo said, “...if he used to hang with you on the roof...that means it was either Sehun, Youngjae or Jaebum, doesn't it?”

Jihoon clicked his tongue. “Yup.”

“I always kind of thought Youngjae and Jaebum might have been a thing...” Jisoo thought out loud.

“They were.” Jeonghan said, again unable to control himself, “But last I heard they also broke up and Jaebum is now dating another guy named Youngjae.”

If looks could kill Jeonghan might have died, but he didn't seem too bothered. “I'm sorry, Hoonie, but I'm surprised I was able to keep this information to myself for this long already!”

“You're just bitter that he mistook you for Johnny that one time.” Jihoon replied.

“No, that was kind of hilarious.” Jeonghan chuckled.

Seungkwan felt a little bad for bringing the whole thing up seeing how it had clearly brought up some bad memories, “Jihoon? I'm sorry I asked...and I'm sorry you broke up with someone.”

Jihoon was never able to stay mad for very long and he nodded with a small smile, “It's okay. It's not like it was really a secret. I just don't like talking about it.”

“If it wasn't a secret how come I didn't even know...” Seokmin said more to himself than to his friend.

“I just don't like talking about this stuff. I promise that if it's a serious long-term thing I'll tell you about it, okay?”

“So...ehm...I get it's a bit of a sensitive issue, but do we have any pics of this guy?

“Mingyu!” Seungkwan shot him an angry look, “Can't you see Jihoon is in pain thinking about his lost love.”

“For fuck's sake, I'm not _in pain_. We only went out for a short time. We've been broken up longer than we were together. If I show you a picture of him will you drop it?”

“You still have his picture on your phone?” Jisoo asked.

Jihoon shrugged, “Somewhere. We didn't end on bad terms, really. I don't really see why I should delete his photos.” He scrolled through his gallery and found an old picture of Sehun.

“Hey wait a minute,” Hansol said, “I think I've seen this guy before on pictures of last year's basketball club. Was he in the club?”

“Hence the uniform he's wearing.” Jihoon replied and he took his phone back. He was ready for this topic to be closed.

“He looked tall...” Seungkwan said quietly.

“And?” Jihoon asked.

“Nothing! It's just...eh...nothing.”

“Oh, don't you guys know?” Jeonghan said with a gleeful smile, “Jihoon totally has a thing for really tall guys. Why do you think he likes looking at basketball so much?”

“I do not have a ' _thing'_ for tall guys. It's just a coincidence that most guys that I find attractive also happen to be tall. Can we get to rehearsing now?”

As they stood up to get ready Mingyu leaned in to whisper in Seungkwan's ear, “Should I be offended that, despite being tall, Jihoon doesn't seem to be attracted to me?”

Seungkwan stared at him as if he was crazy, “You just worry your tall head about your own attractions. Now be a good groupie and get me some water.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I don't know how to come up with a good band name, lol! (I did google and it doesn't seem to be an actual band, so no copyright infringements here, haha)  
> -So...Sehun is pretty random right? I'll tell you how I came up with it: First of all, irl Jihoon is friends with Chanyeol and also Hongbin from VIXX, both tall people. So I thought...what if Jihoon has a thing for tall men? So then I basically starting thinking about other tall idols and who would fit age wise and I ended on Sehun. (side note: the Youngjae that hang out with them is BAP's Youngjae. He and JB are good friends)  
> -This was a bit of a random bits one, but I wanted to come up with a band name and have this random talk about Jihoon's tall men kink idek
> 
> So...next time we'll take a little break from Hansol's suffering and focus on a Mingyu issue. It's his birthday and Seungkwan is coming over for dinner with Mingyu's family and some stuff happens


	21. HS1-20 Mingyu's Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu invites Seungkwan over for a birthday dinner at his house and things don't exactly go over smoothly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ here's some Mingyu story time. Please give him a hug or something

The school bell rang and Mingyu started packing up his bag. “Are you guys going to rehearse again?”

With Battle of the Bands less than a month away the music club members spent even more time in the music room than usual. This included lunchtime and a number of after school hours. As a result, Mingyu hadn't been seeing much of his best friend outside of class. Even if he did go with him during lunch, they didn't have much time to talk and he opted to spend some lunches in the library as well (he claimed as to not distract them from playing).

Seungkwan nodded, “Are you going to the library again and pretend to study?”

“Hey, I study!”

Seungkwan leaned in a little closer so none of their classmates would hear, “Yeah, you study Wonwoo's facial features.”

Mingyu narrowed his eyes and glared at Seungkwan's smirk-painted face. That was all he could do, because it wasn't as if Seungkwan wasn't right. He had figured out the days that Wonwoo was usually in the library and he had discovered the perfect table for throwing glances in his direction with the lowest probability of getting caught. Seungkwan had warned him not to go into stalker territory, but Mingyu just wasn't ready to take the next step in their not-yet-existent relationship.

Seungkwan swung his bag over his shoulder, “Well, text me later to tell me how your study session went. I've got to go.”

“Oh, wait! I have to ask you something!” Mingyu stopped him. “Can you please come to my house for my birthday this weekend? My mom said she wants to cook this elaborate dinner and she said I should invite a friend if I wanted to and then she added 'like Seungkwan'. So I think my mom wants you to come...”

“Ehm, sure I guess. But why in the weekend? Your birthday is on Thursday.”

“My dad always works late during the week and my little sister has her soccer club practice...I think my mom is just trying to make it nice this year. Last year was...not so good.”

“Oh?” Seungkwan didn't know Mingyu's family all that well if he was being honest. He had met his mother and younger sister briefly when he came over, but he had only seen his father in passing as he was leaving. They seemed nice enough, but Mingyu didn't really talk much about their relationship.

Mingyu sighed, “Think back to how I was when we first met but with more yelling.”

“You yelled at your mom?”

“At my mom, my dad...I yelled, they yelled. My mom cried, my little sister cried. It was a mess. Not just on my birthday. Things have calmed down in the last months, but I think we're all a little anxious about having a nice family dinner. You don't have to come if you don't want to. It might get awkward.”

“I'll be there.”

{Mingyu's house}

They were all seated at the table and enjoying the food Mingyu's mother had prepared. It wasn't exactly a lively atmosphere, but not unpleasant. Seungkwan was glad his conversations with Mingyu's parents went over well. It was hard to imagine this same family fighting and yelling like Mingyu had described.

“Well, Seungkwan, I have to say that it's nice to have you over like this. Mingyu has told us so much about you.” his mother said with a friendly smile.

“No, I haven't. Don't listen to her.”

“Maybe someday he'll even bring home a girlfriend.” His father interjected and, even though he said it jokingly, Seungkwan felt Mingyu cringe next to him.

He hadn't come out to his family yet and Seungkwan knew that Mingyu was scared to. Although his parents seemed loving as far as Seungkwan had seen, you never know how people react to their children being gay. Sometimes they surprise you for the better, sometimes for the worse.

His mother shot his father a look, signaling to drop the issue, but he didn't seem to get the hint.

“I'm just saying he's a good looking young man. He should have no trouble finding a nice girl.”

Under the table Mingyu's leg was restlessly bouncing up and down and Seungkwan placed his hand on it in an attempt to calm him down.

“Can't I just focus on school?” Mingyu said through gritted teeth and pressed his lips together, “Why do you always have to bring up girls?”

“Why do _you_ always have to find fault with anything I say? Most teenagers would be delighted that their parents want them to date instead of just focusing on school!” His father replied. Seungkwan, along with everybody else at the table, felt the tension rise.

“Back me up here, Seungkwan.” Mingyu's father now addressed Seungkwan, “Don't you think it would be good for him to get a girlfriend? She might help him control that temper of his. Do you have a girlfriend, Seungkwan?”

Seungkwan didn't think there was any malicious intent behind the question, but it left him unsure of what to say, so he just mumbled, “N-no, sir.”

“Ah, well. You're a good boy. I'm sure you'll find a nice girl someday.”

“T-thank you, sir.”

“Don't thank him.” Mingyu hissed.

“Mingyu, you know you're father was just being nice.” his mother said with tone that couldn't quite cover up the fact that she was upset at how the conversation was turning sour.

“What's nice about asking my friend about his private life?”

His father scoffed, “What? I can't even ask your friend if he has a girlfriend or not? Is it that big of a deal?”

“You know what, dad? No. He doesn't have a girlfriend. _I_ don't have a girlfriend and I will never have a girlfriend!” Mingyu yelled across the table.

“What's that supposed to mean?” His father's voice was calm but his eyes were fixed on his son with intensity.

Mingyu didn't look at him. He felt tears stinging in his eyes. He hadn't planned for this. He just wanted to get through dinner and have it be over. But he felt like he was standing on the side of a bridge about to jump. He decided to jump and hoped he would survive the landing. “I'm gay.”

Seungkwan hadn't taken his hand of Mingyu's leg and felt he was shaking.

“Seungkwan,” Mingyu's father spoke without taking his eyes off his son, “I think it's time for you to leave.”

Seungkwan looked at him and then at his best friend. “Mingyu?” he asked. He knew he risked upsetting his father, but he wasn't about to leave Mingyu all by himself. He had heard too many coming out stories that didn't end so well. Mingyu turned his head to look at him.

“It's okay.” Mingyu said with a voice so small it made Seungkwan's heart ache.

Seungkwan didn't move right away. He kept looking at Mingyu, asking for one more confirmation. Mingyu nodded. Seungkwan got up slowly.

“Thank you for dinner.” He said directed at Mingyu's mother and he walked towards the hallway. He turned around one more time. Nobody at the table moved. As he was putting on his coat with his heart in his throat Mingyu's little sister came to him.

“Seungkwan?”

Seungkwan looked at her, not sure what to say to her.

“I don't care if my brother is gay and I don't care if you are his boyfriend. I just want him to be happy.” Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Seungkwan knelt down to get on eye-level with her. He placed a hand on her head.

“Just make sure he knows that too, okay? I'm sure it means a lot coming from his little sister who he loves so much.”

She nodded and sniffed.

Seungkwan smiled at her. “I'm not his boyfriend though.”

He got back up and opened the front-door, before he stepped out he asked her, “He's going to be okay in there, right?”

His sister didn't answer, but shrugged instead. Not very re-assuring.

“If you can, can you ask him to call me later? I just want to make sure he's okay.”

She nodded. “Are you sure you're not his boyfriend?”

<>

The whole way back Seungkwan kept checking his phone. He didn't like how he just left Mingyu, but he supposed it was something between him and his parents. He remembered when he had come out at home. He told his sisters first. They encouraged him to tell their mother and finally they had told his father together. He hadn't gotten much of a response from him, but he had decided to take that as a positive. At least he wasn't yelled at or told that it was just a phase or some shit like that. He was grateful that his family had accepted him in their own ways and he could only hope that was what was happening over at Mingyu's house right now as well.

When he got back home his mother was sitting on the couch watching some quiz show on TV. “Hey. I wasn't expecting you until later. How was dinner over at Mingyu?”

“Some stuff happened.” Seungkwan said as he sat down next to her.

“Is everything okay?”

“He told his parents that he's gay.”

“I see.”

“They asked me to leave and...I'm just a little worried I guess. His parents seem nice, but you just never really know, you know?”

His mother took his hand and gave it a squeeze, “No matter what, I'm sure he can handle it. He's lucky to have a friend like you by his side.”

Seungkwan smiled a little, “Thanks, mom. If it's okay I'm just going to go to my bedroom and wait for him to call me.”

His mother kissed him on the cheek, “Sure, honey. Try not to worry too much.”

Seungkwan got up from the couch. “Mom? You know me and Mingyu aren't a couple, right?”

“I know, honey.”

<>

For the next two hours Seungkwan was waiting anxiously around his room. He tried to do some homework, but didn't get much done. Then finally his phone lit up with Mingyu's incoming call.

He picked up right away, “Hey! How are you? Everything okay?”

“ _Hey_.” Mingyu replied, “ _It was very intense, but yeah, I'm okay._ ”

“What happened after I left? Was your dad angry?”

“ _No...he cried. I told them everything. About me being gay and how I had struggled with it and how I was in such a dark place last year that I almost felt like there was no way out anymore and then he cried. But, like, he didn't cry because I'm gay_ _but because he felt bad I had been walking around feeling shit about myself. He said he knew I was struggling with something and he didn't know how to help me._ _My mom also cried. And then we hugged all together, which was weird._ ”

“But this is good, right?”

He heard Mingyu take a deep breath before he spoke again, “ _Yeah. Yeah, I think it is._ ”

Seungkwan moved from his desk chair to his bed and lied down on his back. “Fuck, I'm so relieved. I was so worried.”

“ _Sorry...I didn't mean to drag you into that. I really hadn't planned for this to happen tonight._ ”

“I know. Don't apologize.”

“ _Oh, you should know that my parents love you now. They already liked you, but I told them about how you've helped me accept myself and shit and now they love you. It's annoying really._ ”

“More annoying than you're dad asking you if you found a girlfriend yet?”

Mingyu groaned, “ _For a moment h_ _e thought_ we _were dating._ ”

Seungkwan laughed, “Well, I'm glad he's still cool with you dating someone. At least you'll be able to bring Wonwoo over. If you ever grow the balls to ask him out.”

“ _Seungkwan, please, I just came out, can I start worrying about Wonwoo again tomorrow?_ ”

Seungkwan chuckled, “Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Mingyu's mom was just happy her son had made a friend and wasn't so unhappy all the time anymore (or stabbing things and getting expelled)  
> -Add Mingyu's sister to the list of people who think they're dating
> 
> Next time: The final preparations for Battle of the Bands and Seungkwan thinks it's time to take a few matters (e.g. Mingyu's pining from afar) into his own hands


	22. HS1-21 Final Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band is getting ready for Battle of the Bands this weekend and Seungkwan has made sure there will be a few familiar faces in the audience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one feels a bit like a filler! >.<

It was the last few days before Battle of the Bands and Jihoon was demanding all of their free time for final rehearsals. When they first decided to do this band thing he just thought of it as something to do that was more fun than school. But now he was really into it and dammit he wanted to kick all the other bands' asses.

“Mingyu, do you know where Seungkwan is? He's late.”

Mingyu shook his head, “Not sure. We were on our way over here when he suddenly said he had to go do something.”

Jeonghan came up next to him, “Mingyu, no offense, but why are you here? Not that I mind, but isn't it boring for you to constantly watch us play the same few songs over and over again until a certain someone...” he looked at Jihoon who didn't seem to care, “...will finally be satisfied with our performance?”

Mingyu cast his eyes down, “I'm sorry.” he mumbled. “If it bothers you guys I'll just leave.”

“Oh my god, no, that's totally not what I meant!” Jeonghan quickly placed a hand on Mingyu's arm and gave him an apologetic look. “Mingyu, I'm sorry, I-” he stopped his sincere apology when he saw a mischievous smile appear on the other boy's lips. Jeonghan slapped his arm, “Mean!”

Mingyu let out a happy laugh. He knew they didn't mind him being there and he just enjoyed seeing them play their music. Besides, it's not like he had many other people he could have lunch with. Or wanted to was perhaps a better way of putting it. Over the last few months his classmates had relaxed around him, but if truth be told he wasn't all that interested in befriending any of them anymore.

“Finally!” Jihoon exclaimed when the door opened and Seungkwan walked in.

Seungkwan, however, completely ignored him and walked right over to Seokmin instead, “You're going to love me!” he declared with a slightly smug smile.

“I already love you, Kwannie!”

“Get ready to love me more! I invited Jaehyun to watch us perform and he said he'd definitely be there!”

All color left Seokmin's face and his eyes grew about three sizes, “What!? No, no, no, no, why would you do that!?”

“So that he can see how awesome and cool you are? You've been crushing on this dude for forever now, don't you think it's time to find out if it can be anything more?”

Seokmin shook his head in despair, “It's hopeless! Everytime I see him I'm unable to even speak! He's too handsome.”

“That's why this is perfect! You don't have to speak! Just play the keyboard and sing! He'd be crazy not to fall in love with you when he sees you up there. You have an amazing stage presence, Seok!”

Still a bit unsure of himself Seokmin offered him a hesitant nod. Hopefully Seungkwan was right. Or at the very least hopefully he wouldn't make an ass out of himself like he did everytime he was anywhere near Jaehyun.

“Mingyu!” Seungkwan turned to his best friend and pulled him aside, “You better be grateful too. I told Wonwoo to come as well!”

“I'm not even in the band!”

“Not everything is about you.”

“Then why should I be grateful?”

“Because he'll be in the audience just like you, so you can casually stand next to him.”

Mingyu let that run through his head for a moment. It wouldn't be weird to stand next to him since they'd both just be in the audience and they did sort of know each other, but at the same time there wouldn't be any pressure to communicate because they could just focus on the performances instead. “You're a genius!”

Seungkwan smiled proudly, “I know, right? So you better not waste this opportunity and actually _talk_ with him or make some sort of move!”

“I've talked to him!” Mingyu protested.

Seungkwan folded his arms and looked at him with pursed lips, “Outside of the library?” he questioned.

“Well, eh...there was that one time I saw him outside trying to get the attention of a cat and I learned he likes cats.”

“Staring at him from a distance is _not_ talking.”

“But he also saw me when he got up and sort of waved at me!”

“Oh wow, you're right, you're basically dating already.” Seungkwan's reply was drenched in sarcasm. “Anyway, it's all up to you now. I've done my part.”

“I was wondering...” Jisoo started talking and everyone turned their attention to him, “...should we let more people know we're competing in Battle of the Bands this weekend?”

Seungkwan shrugged, “I don't really care as long as Mingyu and Hansol are going to be there.” If he was being honest he would have loved it if the whole school was looking forward to their performance, but things being the way they were it might be better to let their participation in the event fly under the radar a bit.

“Aww” Mingyu cooed next to him. Seungkwan looked at him with an annoyed look on his face, “Don't get all mushy. I said you _and_ Hansol. You're not my only friend outside the band! Besides, you know Hyunggu from the basketball club? He was there when I asked Jaehyun to come and he said he'd try to make it, too.”

“Does that even count as a friend?” Mingyu said back. “Just because he's nice to you like two times doesn't mean you two are friends.”

“Aww, are you getting jealous that I talk to other guys?” Seungkwan joked back. Mingyu scowled, but also wrapped his arms around his best friend as if he was preventing him from going anywhere,

Jihoon clicked his tongue thinking about the issue, “Of course I want people to see us perform. We've worked really hard. I'm just not sure I want the people who watch us be people from this school.”

Jeonghan nodded in agreement, “I don't need some of those assholes from our class to yell stuff at us while we're up there.”

Jisoo placed a hand on Jeonghan's arm in support. He knew Jeonghan and Jihoon had had more trouble with the bullies at this school than Seokmin, Seungkwan, or himself had. Jihoon was relentlessly teased about his height and they just loved pointing out Jeonghan's feminine features.

“All right, so let's just leave it. If people know about it and want to come, fine, but we won't go around broadcasting it to people we don't even like in the first place.” Jihoon concluded. They all agreed.

“Oh!” Jeonghan suddenly perked up, “Jisoo, get the things!”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow, “What things?”

Jeonghan smiled mysteriously and Jisoo walked to the back of the room to grab a large bag. “Remember how they told us to have more _edge_? Well, we got us all some stage outfits! Nothing too much, just some things to make us look more like an actual band instead of five random guys who somehow ended up on stage together.”

He started pulling out shirts and some accessories that he handed out to his band members. “I think it'll give us a more coherent look.”

“Great, just what rock bands are known for. Order and well thought out fashion choices.” Jihoon said.

“You don't like it?” Jeonghan pouted.

Jihoon huffed and took the oversized red-checkered shirt he was holding out to him, “I didn't say that. But why didn't you tell us you were planning to buy us outfits? We could have gone with you guys.”

Jeonghan exchanged a quick look with Jisoo, “Oh, eh, it wasn't really planned. We were just out and happened to come across this secondhand clothing store and saw these...”

“You were out together?” Jihoon asked, “Just the two of you?”

Jeonghan let out a small puff or air, “As if none of us ever hangs out with just one other person.”

“Jihoon, you don't even like shopping. Or going outside.” Seungkwan pointed out with a chuckle.

“Whatever.”

“Anyway, thanks for this guys!” Seokmin said happily as he examined the stuff they had gotten for him to wear, “I'm sure we'll look great!”

Jihoon stretched his arms, “Now let's make sure we also sound great. We've been wasting enough time, let's go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Outfits: think Teen, age album RS (black) version   
> -Will Jaehyun and Wonwoo come? Will it have the desired effects? Will Jihoon ever stop being suspicious of Jeonghan and Jisoo's relationship?
> 
> the next one will be longer than this one (about double the word count?) and a bunch of stuff will happen! Hansol will be back in full being in love with Seungkwan mode! (I lowkey want to just post it but I also want to give myself some time to work on upcoming chapters so there won't be too much time between updates #thestruggleisreal)


	23. HS1-22 Battle of the Bands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally it's time for 'Skeletons in the Closet' to perform at the local Battle of the Bands. Hansol will feast his eyes on Seungkwan on stage and his eyes will witness something else as well that will change everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I updating twice in one day? Yes, yes I am. (maybe unless you're in a different timezone and it became a new day in the meantime...)

Seungkwan stood backstage. He was trying to drown out the noise coming from the stage and the audience. The first band had just started playing. Hearing the other bands perform was a distraction he didn't need right now. He knew he could sing, he knew their band had good songs, but the knot of nerves in his stomach was tightening and getting bigger by the second at this point. The others were clearly nervous too. Jisoo was busy assuring Jeonghan that he could do this. Jihoon was going over his lyrics again as if he hadn't read them a billion times and a billion times over. Seokmin was standing in front of the mirror talking to himself in an attempt to pull out some confidence.

Seungkwan felt someone tap his shoulder and he turned around to find Hansol. Immediately his face broke into a smile, “What are you doing here? Are you even allowed to be backstage?”

Hansol shrugged his shoulders with a smirk on his face said, “I didn't bother to ask anyone for permission. It's not like they have tight security in this place anyway. I just wanted to wish you luck. Not that you need it.”

The smile hadn't left Seungkwan's face and he gave Hansol a quick hug, missing the way Hansol froze momentarily at the close proximity of their bodies.

“Thank you. You're not all alone are you? Find Mingyu if you want someone to stand with.”

Hansol chuckled, “Don't worry, I can handle myself. All I need to have a good time is to look at you up there performing.” He hoped Seungkwan didn't pick up on the accidental flirting. Or maybe he hoped that he did. He quickly added “Besides, some of the basketball guys are here too!”

“Oh yeah? Oh!” Seungkwan exclaimed, “Did Jaehyun come?”

“I think so. Yeah, pretty sure I saw him with Johnny earlier.” Hansol replied. He didn't really get Seungkwan's interest in Jaehyun. Sure, they knew each other from basketball and English but he didn't think they were really friends. Then again, he had also hadn't picked up on the fact that Seokmin liked him yet. He was too busy with his all consuming crush on the boy standing before him.

“Excellent.” Seungkwan whispered to himself. He was convinced that if there was any chance Jaehyun would return Seokmin's feelings, tonight was the perfect stage to plant the seed that would allow for their romance to blossom.

“So...” Hansol said, “...I'm heading back out there. I'll see you after?”

Seungkwan nodded, “Yeah, just meet us outside?” Hansol nodded also and was about to leave when Seungkwan stopped him, “Wait, actually I have a favor to ask you. Can you find Mingyu and stay near him tonight? I want you to keep an eye on him and Wonwoo. You know, the library guy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, like, do they interact and if so how? If it's not too much trouble.”

“Oh, ehm, sure. I can do that.” He didn't ask any further, but maybe he had been right that time in the library. Mingyu had been flirting with Wonwoo and now Seungkwan was worried that something was going on between those two.

Seungkwan thanked him again and Hansol left to find a good place in the crowd. Seungkwan followed him out with his eyes. He felt a lot calmer after Hansol's visit. He suddenly didn't care so much about the other people who would be watching him. As long as he knew Hansol was there cheering him on it didn't matter who else was there.

Finally they got their five minute warning and it was almost time for them to enter the stage. They all gathered around in a circle, “Okay, Seok, why don't you say something to get us pumped or something?” Jihoon suggested.

“Me!?”

“Isn't that what performers do? Like...shout something motivational or some shit before they go out on stage? You are the best man for the job.”

“Okay, okay. Bring it in!” Seokmin held out his hand and the others joined theirs on top. “We're going to go out there and show them what we got! Jihoon with his amazing drumming and awesome musical genius, Seungkwan with his vocals that could make a grown man cry, Jisoo with his surprisingly flashy guitar skills, and Jeonghan our cool and ethereal bass player!”

“And Seokmin with the coolest air around him when he shows that keyboard who's boss and with vocals to match my own!” Seungkwan added since Seokmin did the thing again where he cut himself short.

They all cheered and broke the circle. It was time.

<>

Despite their initial nerves the actual performance went better beyond expectations. The energy from the crowd was easy to feed off of and it gave them the boost they needed to pull out that special something which was impossible to get when you're playing without an audience. Not only that, but Seokmin managed to perform like he actually had the confidence his friends all thought he should have to match the amount of talent. Jisoo seemed to beam with pride as girls screamed for Jeonghan's attention (something he was most unfamiliar with seeing as he went to an all boys high school). With the cheers from the people watching them Seungkwan's entertainment personality came bursting to the forefront and he ad-libbed a fitting introduction for each band member before they walked off stage again. The cheers from the crowd still ringing in their ears.

Hansol had been focusing all of his attention on the band's performance (okay, mostly on Seungkwan) and had almost forgotten to keep an eye on Mingyu and Wonwoo like Seungkwan had asked. He looked to his side where he was sure they had been. He had found Mingyu already standing next to Wonwoo (with a nervous look on his face) when he went out into the pit. But now they were gone. He cursed under his breath and he spun around to see if he could spot them somewhere. He found that they had made their way to the side of the room almost out of sight. He kept his eyes on them, but they just seemed to be talking. He got a little closer. There were still a few other bands that had to perform so he had time to follow Seungkwan's request before they'd announce the winner. Admittedly, he was curious too. Wonwoo leaned in to whisper in Mingyu's ear, a hint of a smirk on his face. He was too far to see clearly, but Hansol was fairly sure he could see Mingyu blush. Wonwoo walked away and Mingyu followed. Shit.

Hansol quickly went in pursuit. He was just in time to see them step outside and he followed. At first he couldn't find him, so he decided to check the alley next to the entrance. He quickly ducked behind a dumpster. He peeked out from behind to confirm what he already thought to have seen. There they were. Wonwoo and Mingyu. Kissing. Mingyu had his back pressed against the wall and his hands on Wonwoo's waist. That bastard. How could he do this to Seungkwan? Hansol balled up his fist and without thinking slammed it into the dumpster. The sound it caused bounced off the walls and he quickly hid again.

“What was that?” He could hear Mingyu ask.

“Probably just a random animal or something.” Wonwoo replied and they were quiet again. Hansol knew why. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he confront them? Or just tell Seungkwan what he had seen? He decided it wasn't his place to cause a scene and he went back inside, slightly shaken up by what he had just witnessed. The best thing he could do now was hope that the band had won so Seungkwan had something positive to focus on before he was going to get his heart broken. He just hoped that Seungkwan wouldn't blame him for being the messenger of bad news.

Right before they were going to announce the results Mingyu appeared by Hansol's side again. At least he had the decency to take his tongue out of Wonwoo's mouth long enough to see if his boyfriend had won any prizes.

“They haven't announced anything yet, right?” he asked Hansol.

“No.” Hansol replied with a strained voice.

“Okay, good.”

“Where have you been?” There was no way Hansol's tone of voice wasn't at least a little bit accusatory, but Mingyu didn't seem to notice. He just smiled and giggled like an idiot.

“I was just getting some air.”

“Alone?”

“Eh, no. Wonwoo was there too.” An unmistakeable blush colored his cheeks.

“And where is _Wonwoo_ now?”

“Oh, he's in the back. He ran into someone he knows from school.” Mingyu looked behind him to see if he could spot him. Hansol did the same. Wonwoo was standing in the back talking with someone that Hansol didn't know. When he saw Mingyu looking at him he couldn't suppress a smile and it made Hansol even angrier. They both turned back around when the host of the night came on stage to announce the results. First they called the top three on stage. _Skeletons in the Closet_ was on the list. Hansol held his breath as they announced the number two. It wasn't them. He was ready to riot if the other band that was left was going to win. But he didn't have to. The audience erupted in cheers when their band was announced as the winner of tonight's competition.

Mingyu was jumping up and down happily and cheering loudly. For a moment Hansol forgot that he wanted to kick Mingyu in the balls.

<>

Hansol was waiting outside like Seungkwan had told him to. He had lost track of Mingyu and Wonwoo. He had a knot in his stomach not knowing if he should tell Seungkwan what he had seen right away. He didn't want to take away from their win, but he also felt like he had the right to know. He didn't have time to figure it out, because a voice called for him.

“Hansol!” Seungkwan ran towards him and basically leaped into his arms. “Can you believe we won!”

“Y-yeah...you guys were awesome!”

Seungkwan smiled brightly and for a moment all that Hansol knew was that smile and the fact he had his hands on Seungkwan's waist.

Seungkwan turned his head and looked around, “Where's Mingyu?”

“Oh, ehm...” Hansol took his hands back and shoved them in his pockets. “He, eh...I'm not sure.”

“Didn't you keep an eye on him and Wonwoo like I asked?” Seungkwan furrowed his brows together and pouted.

“I did! But after the show I kind of lost them.”

“Does that mean they were together?” Seungkwan cocked his head to the side.

“Yeah...listen Seungkwan. I don't want to ruin your night, but I think you should know something.”

“What?”

They were interrupted by the rest of the band walking over. Hansol congratulated them as well.

“I wish we could go out and celebrate. Whose dumb idea was it to have this competition on a Sunday?” Jeonghan complained, “My parents barely let me come out as it is. They said I should study more...” He let out a big sigh.

Jisoo wrapped his arm around Jeonghan's neck and sighed dramatically, “You kids don't understand the struggle of getting into college.”

Jihoon scoffed, “Whatever, I didn't even tell my parents.” He checked the time on his phone and sucked in some air through his teeth, “That being said, I really should get going before they start asking questions. I'll see you guys tomorrow.” He kind of hesitated and cast his eyes downwards, “I, eh, I'm really proud of you guys. We did great tonight.” Without another word he turned around and walked away. He wasn't the best at expressing his emotions, but they all understood how he felt.

Seokmin smiled at the compliment, but then his face fell. “Ah, we take the same bus. I don't want to go by myself. See you guys!” He quickly ran after him. Jisoo and Jeonghan also said their goodbyes when Jisoo's mother arrived to drive them home, leaving Seungkwan and Hansol alone again.

“So, ehm, you were about to tell me something about Mingyu and Wonwoo?”

Hansol swallowed, “Yeah, eh...Before...after you guys performed, but before the results were announced, Mingyu and Wonwoo went outside together. I followed them and I found them...”

Seungkwan stared at him impatiently, “...you found them? What, Hansol? Spit it out.”

“I found them kissing in the alley.”

Immediately Seungkwan's eyes grew into saucers and he grabbed Hansol's arm “What!? Oh my god! How long did they kiss? Were tongues involved?”

“Seungkwan, are you okay?” Hansol was confused. Seungkwan seemed happy about this.

“I can't believe he finally did it! I'm so proud. Although I can't believe he hasn't told me yet! Shit, maybe he did! Where's my phone?”

By now Hansol was sure Seungkwan was happy about Mingyu making out with someone that wasn't him. “I just told you your boyfriend is cheating on you and you're proud of him?”

“Boyfriend? What are you talking about? Mingyu's _not_ my boyfriend.” Seungkwan answered casually as he continued to feel around in his bag for his phone.

“He...isn't?” Did he hear correctly or was his mind playing tricks on him?

“Hansol, I've told you that he isn't before.” Normally Seungkwan would be more concerned with the fact that apparently Hansol had been thinking that he and Mingyu were dating this whole time, but all he was concerned with right now was his best friend and his crush making out in an alley.

“Yeah, but I just thought that...” He didn't finish his sentence because he wasn't sure how to explain what he thought, what he had been thinking for months.

“That I'm the kind of person who'd want the fact that he has a boyfriend a secret? Ha! If I ever get a boyfriend the whole world can know about it for all I care!”

“Don't say it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like it's so unlikely for you to ever get a boyfriend.”

Seungkwan snorted, “No takers so far, but thanks.” he said before letting out a triumphant cry because he had finally managed to pull his phone from the depths of this bag.

“I could be your boyfriend.” Hansol said and let out a nervous chuckle. He immediately regretted it. The information that Seungkwan was, in fact, single, made him do crazy impulsive things.

“Hansol, this is not the time for your jokes! I need to talk to Mingyu! STAT!” He was already completely focused on his phone and Hansol just stood there feeling awkward.

“So, eh...” he started, “I came on my bike, so I'm just gonna go...”

Seungkwan teared himself away from his screen, “Okay! I'll see you at school tomorrow. Thank you for coming! It wouldn't have been the same without you!”

“Y-you're welcome.” Hansol said with a voice so small that there was no way Seungkwan could even hear him. He left Seungkwan to his phone and walked over to his bicycle. As he rode home with the night breeze brushing by his face, his head was a mess. Seungkwan was single. He was not dating Mingyu. He had most likely never even dated Mingyu to begin with. But that also meant he was probably not interested in Hansol at all. If he was, wouldn't it have shown somehow? The way he just brushed his suggestion off as a joke said enough. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -First I was like "hmm should I really let them win 1st place? Is that realistic?' but then I thought f*ck it, it's my fic I can do whatever I want and they should win because they're awesome.  
> -Jeonghan getting some fangirls? Love that for him  
> -Seungkwan...please...  
> -My personal favorite line: For a moment Hansol forgot that he wanted to kick Mingyu in the balls.  
> -Don't think Hansol's pining and suffering is over just yet!
> 
> (btw since I'm updating pretty fast right now it means I'm running out of finished pre-written chaps, so I might take a short break after this first year of high school finishes, but it won't end on a cliffhanger. Oh and it's still about 5 chaps before that, so...just fyi)


	24. HS1-23 New Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after Battle of the Bands school seems different. People are nicer and romance seems to be in the air...for some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit longer than some other chaps, but it's bits and pieces to spin some things together.

Seungkwan wasn't sure if he was imagining things or not, but the next day school seemed different. A few people gave him an approving nod or a smile and one guy, who Seungkwan didn't even know, said 'nice gig' as he walked by. Maybe more people from school had watched them play yesterday than he had thought. He spotted Seokmin near his locker and walked over. “Is it just me or are people weird this morning?” he asked as he leaned against the lockers.

“I know!” Seokmin replied and he eyed the people walking by with suspecting eyes, “I'm not sure I like it. I've gotten used to being invisible.”

Seungkwan had to disagreed with that. As long as it was good attention he definitely didn't mind it. But he knew Seokmin had a habit of pulling into his shell when there were too many eyes directly on him. Especially when a certain someone, who just so happened to be approaching them at that very moment, made any kind of contact.

“Hey, Seungkwan.” Jaehyun greeted as he and Hyunggu stopped in front of them, “Cool gig yesterday, man”

“Thanks. And thanks for coming.”

“You were awesome too.” Jaehyun continued, now with his attention on Seokmin who was holding onto his chemistry book with so much strength that Seungkwan was afraid he might snap it in half, “It's Seokmin, right?”

Seokmin let out a weird half-cough as he choked on his own saliva in his attempt to say something back. Jaehyun just smiled and excused himself to go to class.

Hyunggu lingered a little longer, “You really looked good up there yesterday, Seungkwan. Totally different from what I usually see. The stage agrees with you.”

“Eh, thanks.” Seungkwan wasn't really sure what to say.

“I hope I'll be able to see more of that in the future. Anyway, I'd better be getting to class. I'll see you later, Seungkwan.” He said with a subtle wink.

Seungkwan kept his eyes on him as he walked away. Did he just wink at him? And compliment the way he looks? Was Hyunggu _flirting_ with him? Seungkwan quickly pushed the thought away to focus on Seokmin who seemed to be having a mental shutdown. He snapped his fingers in front of his face to get him back into the land of the living. “Hello? Earth to Seokmin! Are you still alive?”

“H-he...he knows my name.” Seokmin whispered in amazement.

“And he said you were awesome. See? I told you that inviting him was a good idea. Now if only you would have said something back...but one step at a time I guess.”

{Classroom – free study period}

“Any updates since last night?” Seungkwan asked as he leaned in so no-one else could hear. The only one within earshot was Hansol sitting at the desk behind Mingyu, but seeing as he had already seen Mingyu making out with Wonwoo Seungkwan figured it was okay even if he did hear. Besides, he had his book propped up on his desk which usually meant he was sleeping (he wasn't).

Mingyu shook his head. “I haven't talked to him and he hasn't talked to me...what am I supposed to do, Kwannie? What if it was just a one time thing?”

Seungkwan didn't know Wonwoo that well, but he didn't seem like the type to randomly make out with guys in alleys if he wasn't at least a bit interested in something more. He stood up from his desk, “Come on.”

“Come on, what?” Mingyu asked.

“Let's go find him.”

“What!?”

Seungkwan ignored Mingyu's shocked expression and started dragging him out of the classroom. If they'd look back they would have seen Hansol's curious eyes following them out.

“We're not supposed to leave the classroom...” Mingyu objected as he followed Seungkwan down the hallway.

“Don't worry so much. We're allowed to leave if we have to use the bathroom or get something we need to study, right? If any teacher asks we'll just tell them we need to get something from the library. Which is where we're going anyway.”

“To do what? He might not even be there!”

“He's always there. I'm starting to suspect he lives there to be honest. And we'll just talk to him or something.”

“I don't want him to think we're ganging up on him...besides I don't know if he's okay with you knowing about what we did...”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “If he didn't want anyone to know about it he shouldn't have kissed you for all to see! Remember I found out about it through Hansol because he saw. It seriously messed him up by the way. He even started making weird jokes about us dating.”

“You and me us?”

“No, him and me us.”

“Maybe he wasn't joking.”

“Of course he was joking, Mingyu. Don't try to change the subject! We need to focus on the matter at hand. You and Wonwoo.”

“It wasn't me who brought up Hansol.” Mingyu mumbled.

“Shh!” Seungkwan shushed him, “I've spotted our target.” They had arrived at the library and they could see Wonwoo standing next to one of the shelves putting some books back. “See. I told you he's always here. You know that better than anyone.”

“Maybe we should just go.” Mingyu said as he started pulling on Seungkwan's arm, away from the library.

“Stop it! We're going to go in!”

“But I don't know what to even say!”

“If you can stick your tongue in his mouth you can also use that tongue to talk to him!”

“Seungkwan, I-”

“Hey, guys.” A voice interrupted them. They both turned around and Mingyu instinctively tried to hide behind Seungkwan as the object of his affection stood before them.

“Wonwoo!” Seungkwan said, a bit startled by his sudden appearance. “What brings you here?”

Wonwoo chuckled, “I saw you guys from inside the library. Everything okay?”

“Yes, yes, everything is great. Especially, Mingyu.”

Neither Wonwoo not Mingyu said anything and Seungkwan felt like it was up to him to make something happen here, “So, eh, thanks for coming yesterday. Did you have fun?”

Wonwoo's eyes darted over to Mingyu for a brief second, “Yeah. You were...really something.”

Seungkwan felt like he wasn't talking about the band when he said that, but this awkward hallway situation wasn't going to get them anywhere. “Have lunch with us.”

“What?”

“Have lunch with us later. We'll just be in the cafeteria. So...”

“Ehm, okay. Thanks.”

“Y-you don't have to if you don't want to!” Mingyu added, but he let out a small cry of pain when Seungkwan stepped back and onto his foot.

“Ignore him. You'll have lunch with us, right?”

“Sure.”

“Great. See you then. We really must be getting back to class now.” He turned around and dragged Mingyu with him by his arm. Mingyu dared to peek behind him, but immediately turned back around when he saw Wonwoo was still looking at them.

When they got back to the classroom Hansol wasn't there anymore.

{The Roof}

“Why am I so stupid!?” Hansol yelled out. He was standing, taking steps in random directions, unable to stand still, “Why didn't anyone think to ask them if they were dating!”

“Wasn't it you who told us that they were?” Jihoon was sitting on the ground staring up at him.

“I...I thought they were! If they're not dating what are they so clingy for!?”

Jihoon shrugged.

Hansol groaned and he sat down.

“Tell me again why Seungkwan _not_ dating Mingyu is a problem? Isn't this exactly what you want?”

“It's a problem because we've become much better friends than when I first started liking him...”

“Still waiting to hear a problem.”

“Don't you understand I could ruin everything if he doesn't feel the same way. He'll reject me and things will get awkward and we won't be friends anymore...”

“Or he doesn't reject you and you can finally ask him to be your boyfriend.”

The door to the roof opened and Jeonghan joined them. “Sorry I'm late. What's going on? Jihoon texted me saying you're having another Seungkwan related meltdown.”

Hansol narrowed his eyes at Jihoon.

“Don't stare at me like that. You are. A completely unnecessary one in my opinion.”

“Is someone going to explain it to me, or what?” Jeonghan asked impatiently.

“Hansol saw Mingyu and Wonwoo going at it in an alley yesterday and when he told Seungkwan, he found out that Seungkwan and Mingyu weren't actually dating.”

“They weren't ' _going at it_ _'_.” Hansol mumbled.

“Oh, I see.” Jeonghan said as he nodded slowly, taking in the new developments. “So now you're thinking about whether or not you should confess to Seungkwan and risk your friendship if he doesn't feel the same way?”

“Yes!” Hansol exclaimed, “Thank you! At least someone understands.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes, “You're both so dramatic sometimes. I mean, do you really want to stay _just_ friends with him instead of finding out if it could be more? Isn't it worth the risk?”

“I guess...”

“Or...me and Jihoon could fish around and see if we can find out how he feels about you?” Jeonghan suggested with a sly smirk.

Jihoon groaned, “Do I look like a romance cop to you?”

“Ooh, that can be your stripper name.”

“Why do I need a stripper name?”

“Everybody needs a stripper name.”

“Ehm...can we focus please? Do you think you can try the fishing thing? But you absolutely can't let him know that I'm in love with him, okay?”

“Don't worry. We've got your back.” Jeonghan said with a reassuring nod.

{Lunch}

At the beginning of lunchtime Seungkwan made sure that the only empty seat at the table was the one directly next to Mingyu, so that Wonwoo wouldn't have any other choice but to sit next to him. In his attempts to make the seating as ideal as possible for him to oversee the situation he had dragged Hansol onto the chair next to him.

“What if he doesn't come?” Mingyu attempted to whisper across the table.

“Who's coming?” Seokmin asked and Mingyu pressed his lips together.

“Just tell them, Gyu. It's been between just us long enough.”

“Wonwoo...” Mingyu mumbled while not looking directly at any of the other people at the table.

“Wonwoo? Is that the guy that you-” Jeonghan started, but he quickly bent his sentence into a different direction after he saw the look Hansol gave him, pleading him not to make it clear that he had been blabbing about what he had seen last night, “...that you are apparently waiting for?”

Mingyu nodded.

“And? Who is he? Do we know him?” Jisoo asked.

“You might.” Seungkwan was the one to answer, “He's in the library a lot.”

“Wait...Wonwoo...that does ring a bell....” Seokmin mumbled more to himself, “Isn't he in the same year as me and Hoon? Why would he have lunch with us?”

Before Mingyu could tell them everybody's eyes landed on the person in question now standing by their table.

“Eh, can I sit here? Seungkwan invited me.”

“Yes, yes, of course. You can sit there. Next to Mingyu.” Seungkwan plastered on his friendliest smile and was pleased to see that Wonwoo was smiling shyly at Mingyu when he sat down. With the way Mingyu was blushing and nervously twitching around in his chair it didn't take long for the others at the table to catch up on what was going on here. At least to a certain point. Hansol was still busy wrapping his brain around the fact that Seungkwan was single, but as he was so absorbed in what was going on at the other end of the table it gave Hansol the perfect opportunity to direct his eyes in his direction every so often without it being too noticeable.

“So, Wonwoo, tell us a bit about yourself. I don't think I've seen you around the cafeteria much.” Jeonghan asked as if he didn't spent most lunches either in the music room or on the roof.

“Yeah, I mostly stay in or around the library and I usually take a walk at the end of lunch in that little park next to the school.”

“Maybe Mingyu can join you for that walk today. He's like a puppy and needs regular exercise.” Seungkwan joked in a, somewhat peculiar, attempt to set up the stage for those two to spend some alone time together.

Mingyu's eyes shot daggers across the table, convinced that now Wonwoo would think he was weird, along with his friends.

“Sure.” Wonwoo replied with a small chuckle. Mingyu looked at him in shock. “Do you want to walk with me, Mingyu?”

“Yes!” Mingyu all but jumped right out of his chair, startling everyone.

“Will you sit down? He said he takes a walk at the _end_ of lunchtime.” Seungkwan said with a sigh.

“T-that's okay. We can go now.”

Mingyu let out a little giggle that had Seungkwan scrunch up his nose in disgust at his lack of control for his excitement. But it didn't seem to bother Wonwoo one bit. Once they left the cafeteria together some of the others needed some answers.

“So...what just happened?” Seokmin asked Seungkwan.

Seungkwan sighed and decided to tell them about Mingyu's crush on their schoolmate. He figured it was okay since Mingyu had been about to tell them right before Wonwoo showed up anyway and his behavior was obvious enough.

“I have to say, Seungkwan, I'm a little bit surprised by these turn of events. Honestly, I sort of thought that maybe...you and Mingyu...” Jeonghan said carefully.

“Me and Mingyu what? Don't tell me you thought we were dating too! Why does everybody keep thinking that!?”

“Maybe because you two are always together and acting all clingy and stuff,” Hansol mumbled a little too loudly.

Seungkwan looked almost offended. “Is that a problem? It doesn't mean we're dating.”

“Apparently so.” Hansol said quietly, avoiding his gaze. He hadn't meant to say anything bad about the way Seungkwan and Mingyu were together, but he was still angry at himself for drawing his own conclusions based on what he thought to have seen between them.

Seungkwan clicked his tongue, “Whatever, you're weird. Just because _you_ don't like skinship all that much doesn't mean I can't hug my best friend. Have you tried standing close to Kim Mingyu and _not_ getting hugged every once in a while. He's like a hugging maniac.”

“With you.” Jisoo pointed out and took another bite of his lunch.

“Oh, by the way, Seungkwan? Do you like Hansol?” Jihoon had the worst timing and his lack of subtlety had Hansol and Jeonghan shocked to the core. Seungkwan, on the other hand, didn't even seem to understand the question.

“Of course I like him?”

“Yeah, but, do you _like_ like him?”

“What!? Why are you talking crazy all of a sudden? Hansol, please tell him he's being ridiculous.”

Jihoon shot a _sorry bro_ look to Hansol and Jeonghan kicked Jihoon under the table and mouthed _idiot_ in his direction.

“Yeah...” Hansol stood up from the table and swung his bag over his shoulder, “I have to go to the bathroom. I'll see you in class.”

“Now look what you did. You made him uncomfortable with your weird questions all of a sudden.” Seungkwan scolded Jihoon.

{Classroom}

When he got to the classroom Hansol was busy pretending to read and Mingyu wasn't there yet. Seungkwan anxiously kept his eyes on the doorway. He desperately wanted to know what was happening with Wonwoo. Right before the bell rang Mingyu came in and hastily made his way over to Seungkwan. He looked like he could barely contain his glee.

“And?” Seungkwan asked with big, anticipating eyes.

“Oh my god, oh my god! I'll give you the long version later, but the short version is that you can be proud of me!” He beckoned Seungkwan closer with his hand to make sure they were at a distance where nobody else could hear. “I asked him to be my boyfriend and he said yes.”

“What!?” Seungkwan yelled out way louder than he had meant to. He nodded apologetically to some of his classmates who stared at him. He quickly leaned back in and lowered his volume to a whisper, “What the fuck, Mingyu!? Just earlier today you barely even had the balls to talk to him and now you just ask him to be your boyfriend over a lunchtime walk?”

Mingyu covered his mouth with both of his hands in an attempt to stop himself from audibly flailing at the memory, “I don't know what came over me. I just...as we were walking I thought about how I wanted him to be my boyfriend and before I knew it the words just came out. I'm meeting him after school again.”

Their conversation got cut short when the teacher walking in and started class. Seungkwan had trouble focusing. He was genuinely excited for Mingyu, but he couldn't help but feeling a little pinch of jealousy. He couldn't tell if it was jealousy over the fact that Mingyu had gotten a boyfriend before him or because it meant that Mingyu was, inevitably, going to be spending less time with him. He sighed and sat up straight. He didn't have time for this right now. Finals were coming up and he needed to focus on studying, not romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently on the 'omg why are they so dumb!?' list: Hansol, Jihoon, and maybe Seungkwan for being oblivious (yet when a guy who isn't Hansol pays him any attention THEN he notices ffs)
> 
> Next time: Seungkwan is trying to find a good study partner, Hansol has an opportunity to get closer to him (but maybe he blows it), and some people have an announcement to make.
> 
> I'm going to try to finish this year of High School either this week or next week and then put a short break (see it as the end of a season, lol)


	25. HS1-24 Study Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan is having trouble finding a study partner that isn't constantly distracted by other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you wash your hands?

Battle of the Bands was over. All clubs had finished their activities for the year. All what was left now were finals. Study time. Something Seungkwan was having trouble doing now that Mingyu and Wonwoo were officially dating. First of all, it was impossible to study in the library when both of them were there (a mix between them being grossly in love and being scared of accidentally outing themselves).

Second of all, trying to study over at Mingyu's house, what Seungkwan was attempting currently, also proved impossible because he wouldn't shut up about his new boyfriend and the recent dates they'd have.

“It was so perfect, Seungkwan! We talked and had coffee together, and took a walk in the park, and then at the end we were standing under this light and there was no-one around and-”

“And you kissed. Yeah, I know. You told me a hundred times already! Can we please study!?”

“Don't be grumpy just because you're not getting any!”

Seungkwan scoffed, “Getting any!? Don't make it sound like you and Wonwoo have gone beyond Frenching!”

“Still more action than you've been getting.” Mingyu said with a smug smirk on his face.

Seungkwan just rolled his eyes. “And? What's your point? I came here to study. I don't have time for kiss and tell.”

“You have nothing to tell anyway.” Mingyu mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing! Fine, let's study.” Mingyu knew that he was being a bit obnoxious with the way he was acting, but he couldn't help it. His mind had been almost completely taken over by Wonwoo. But he saw how it was starting to annoying his best friend because he kept interrupting his concentration, so he decided to do his best to keep it in check. At least until after exams.

“Thank you.” Seungkwan started to review his physics notes, but just because Mingyu had stopped talking about Wonwoo didn't mean he wasn't constantly getting messages on his phone from him. Every time he did, he looked at his phone with a stupid smile on his face and clearly suppressing the urge to let out a squeal. It didn't take long before Seungkwan was completely fed up and he slammed his book shut.

“That's it! I'm done studying with you! I appreciate that you're at least trying to contain your outbursts now, but it's clearly not working.” He picked up his phone and sent a message to Hansol asking if he could come over to study with him.

_{Hansol's house}_

Seungkwan arrived at Hansol's house about half an hour later. Since it was Saturday he sort of had assumed his family would be home, but it turned out they were all alone.

“They've taken my sister shopping for the day.” Hansol explained as he led Seungkwan up the stairs to his bedroom. At first he had been delighted that Seungkwan wanted to come over, but that delight quickly turned into a panic about the mess in his room. In his haste he had shoved everything into his closet and he just hoped it wouldn't explode. He also hoped he himself wouldn't explode. After Jihoon's miserable attempt to find out how Seungkwan felt, Hansol had begged him and Jeonghan not to interfere any further and told them that he'd figure it out for himself. But so far he hadn't. And now Seungkwan was here in his room.

“So, ehm, I usually just study on my bed, or at my desk, or on the floor. We can use the table in the living room if you prefer.”

Seungkwan walked deeper into the room, “No, that's fine.” He sat down on Hansol's bed. “Do you mind if I sit on the bed? It looks comfy.”

Hansol felt like he was about to suffer an aneurism seeing Boo Seungkwan sitting on his bed. For his own sanity he pulled out his desk chair and opted to sit there instead of next to him. “S-sure. That's fine. It is pretty comfy, yeah.” he chuckled awkwardly.

Seungkwan made his second attempt of the day to get some studying done. It was going pretty well. Hansol wasn't as noisy as Mingyu had been. Of course Seungkwan didn't know that it was mostly because Hansol's brain was too busy going into overdrive.

He couldn't stop staring at Seungkwan. Maybe this was a good moment to confess to him. Or maybe not. Seungkwan might get mad at him for distracting him from his studies. But, fuck, did he really have to put his pencil in his mouth like that when he was thinking? And who looks this cute just to study!?

Hansol knew Seungkwan was talking, he must be, his lips were moving. Those lips... Maybe he should confess now after all, because if he did he might be able to find out if Seungkwan's lips were as soft as they looked.

“Hansol, no offense, but you're a terrible study partner.” Seungkwan sighed loudly and Hansol finally snapped back into consciousness, “I've asked you about Newton like three times now and you're just spacing out. I'm not all that thrilled about what the guy had to say about motion either, but we have to know this stuff for the test!”

“I-I'm sorry. Ask me again about Newton.”

“Okay, so, I have to fill in the blanks in this statement about his laws of motion or whatever. But what goes here? Velocity or acceleration or what?”

Hansol stared at the paper Seungkwan was holding up, but nothing was registering in his brain. “I don't know.”

Seungkwan sighed and let himself fall back onto the bed, “We're both doomed.”

They tried to study a bit more, but seeing that this study session wasn't as fruitful as Seungkwan had hoped, he called it a day before dinner time. He politely declined Hansol's offer to stay for dinner. He had barely seen his mother all week and wanted to have dinner with her.

Once he was alone in his room again Hansol carefully sat down on his bed. It was already cold again. He sighed. He had to come up with a plan for after the end of the school year next week. He had come to the conclusion that there was no point in keeping his feelings hidden from Seungkwan for the sake of their friendship. He wouldn't survive continuing like this and the thought that somebody else might take him away was scarier than taking the chance. He just needed to figure out a good way and time to tell him how he felt. It had to be perfect.

_{Jisoo's house, next day}_

The next day Seungkwan had traded in Hansol as his study partner for the members of the music club. They had gathered at Jisoo's house and were seated at the table with books all over it.

“Can I just say that I really appreciate the fact we're actually studying right now.” Seungkwan said, “I should have studied with you from the beginning.”

“Who were you studying with before?” Seokmin asked.

“First Mingyu, but he was being impossible! He kept getting sappy love messages and giggling at his phone. It drove me nuts. So I went to Hansol, but he was no good either.”

“So we are your _third_ choice?” Jeonghan said offended.

“Don't be upset. You guys are all in different years so we're not studying the same stuff.”

“Exactly. We all already studied what you're studying, so all the more reason to study with us.”

“Why was Hansol no good?” Jisoo interrupted.

Seungkwan sighed, “That boy...I don't know what goes on inside his head sometimes! He just kept spacing out and staring at me without registering what I was saying at all.”

Jihoon and Jeonghan exchanged a look between them, fully aware of why Hansol was spacing out in Seungkwan's presence.

“So, ehm, Seungkwan...any plans for next weekend after exams? We've been thinking we should hang out as a group or something.” Jeonghan decided to change the subject before he would break his promise to Hansol to not interfere anymore.

“Oh, no, I don't really have any plans. My mom will actually be out of town the whole weekend so I'm totally free to-”

“Hold up! Your mom is going to be _out of town_!?”

“Yeah...?”

“Why didn't you tell us? Party at Seungkwan's!”

“No! No, you guys. NO party! I mean it! I don't want a bunch of random people from school who don't even like me, to invade my personal space!”

“All right...how about...a slumber party! Just us, and we'll invite Hansol, Mingyu, and Wonwoo if he wants to come since he and Mingyu are rapidly becoming conjoined twins.”

“Oh...that might actually be fun! And of course we'll invite Wonwoo too!” Seungkwan wanted to get to know Wonwoo better anyway now that he had to share his best friend with him.

“Yay! I'm so done with studying and I need to have some fun.” Seokmin said and he glared a little at his books.

“Ugh, same.” Seungkwan answered.

Jisoo and Jeonghan had a silent exchange and Jeonghan nodded.

“Guys, can I have your attention for a moment?” Jisoo said, looking around the table. “Before we go and have a party...I, we, have an announcement to make.”

The rest of the table focused their attention on them.

“Me and Jeonghan are together.”

“Together? Like how?” Seungkwan questioned, not fully understanding what he was trying to say.

Jeonghan took Jisoo's hand in his own, “Like this.”

“You mean you're dating??” Seokmin yelled out, part shock, part excitement.

They both nodded shyly. While Seungkwan and Seokmin both reacted with a large dose of happy surprise, Jihoon remained silent. When his friends looked at him, looking for some sort of reaction he sighed and spoke in a monotonous tone, “Wow, I am shocked. I totally didn't already figure it out ages ago.”

Jeonghan chuckled. He had suspected he had known already. “Sorry we didn't tell you guys sooner, but we wanted to figure out what was happening between us first.”

Seokmin leaned his head in his hands and stared at his two friends with loving eyes, “So? When did it happen?”

“Seok, you're asking the wrong question. First tell us, h _ow_ it happened.” Seungkwan interjected.

Jisoo had a blush on his face, but answered, “Well, I guess it really started when I began to help him with learning to play the bass. One day he was over at my house and we were sitting next to each other and...”

“And?” Seokmin asked, hoping to quench his thirst for romance by living vicariously through his friends.

“You guys did it?”

“Oh my god, Jihoon!” Jeonghan kicked him under the table, “No, we didn't _do it_! We just kissed.”

“And then we were both kind of freaked out about it, because we weren't sure what it meant.” Jisoo continued, “We've been friends for years. But eventually we accepted our feelings had grown beyond just friends.”

Seungkwan sank back in his chair and sighed, “That's so pure, you guys. When will I ever.”

“Well...” Jeonghan started, but this time it was his turn to get kicked.

“OK, they're dating, that's very nice. We're having a slumber party fest next week, also nice. But we still have exams to pass, so can we get back to studying now?” Jihoon suggested and the rest agreed. The only difference now was that Jeonghan and Jisoo only had one hand to study with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Finally Jihoon can stop dropping hints that he already knew about Jeonghan and Jisoo (I want to write a one-shot about how exactly they got together...I'll add it to my never ending 'to write' list)  
> -Will Mingyu fail all his exams because he can't stop giggling at his phone?  
> -Do you think Hansol will be able to have his perfect confession?
> 
> A slumber party...where things will happen...sort of


	26. HS1-25 Sleepover I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finals are over and everybody heads on over to Seungkwan's house for a sleepover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update to end everybody's suffering quicker (mostly Hansol's)

It was Friday afternoon. Final exams were finally over and everybody was making their way over to Seungkwan's house for their planned sleepover (after a quick trip to the supermarket for necessary slumber party food).

“Dump your sleeping bags and stuff in the corner over there or in my room or something. We'll make the beds later. Snacks can go in the kitchen for now. We'll just grab them as needed.” Seungkwan directed everyone as his house filled with his friends. It was the first time all of them came over and suddenly the living room looked a lot smaller than it had before, but he figured it would work out somehow if they moved some furniture around. “Oh and to the couples: please refrain from kissing all the time. Or else me and Seokmin will feel obligated to make out or something.”

“What about Hansol, Seungkwan?” Jeonghan pointed out in an attempt to nudge those two closer together.

“Look, I can't make out with everyone!”

Hansol knew Seungkwan was just joking around, but was he not even good enough to _hypothetically_ make out with? He started to doubt his previous determination to confess. The others dumped their stuff in Seungkwan's room to keep the living room somewhat organized before they'd start making the beds and Hansol did the same. His eyes darted over Seungkwan's bed and his nightstand causing him to remember the last time he had been here. The horror he had felt seeing Seungkwan holding those condoms, but also the way they had sat next to each other to take cute photos together. He quickly returned to the living room, not wanting to be asked why he was taking so long. Wonwoo and Mingyu were already nestled together on one chair and Jihoon, Jeonghan and Jisoo had taken the couch. Seungkwan was going around asking everybody what they wanted to drink.

“Just to be clear,” he said, “The first drink I'll provide, after that just feel free to go and get it yourself. Hansol? Drink?”

“Oh, ehm, just Cola or something.” he answered as he sat down on an empty chair.

Once they all had something to drink and had found a spot to sit Seungkwan raised his glass, “To the end of this crazy school year. I don't know what I was expecting when I first moved here, but all of you guys have made this a year to remember.”

They all lifted their own glasses and everybody took a sip. Seokmin sighed as he let himself sink back against the couch between Jihoon's legs. “I can't believe it's already been another year of high school gone...”

“Ah yes, another year of you not telling Jaehyun how you feel. Or telling Jaehyun anything for that matter. Tell me, Minnie, are you ever going to talk to him?” Jeonghan asked him as he casually rubbed his hand through Seokmin's hair.

“No...he might talk back.”

“Jaehyun?” Wonwoo spoke up, “You mean the Jaehyun who's in my class? The one also on the basketball team?”

Seokmin's eyes grew about two sizes, “He's in your class? Why didn't I even know this? Are you friends with him?”

Wonwoo shrugs, “Not really. I mean, he's nice, but I wouldn't consider us friends. Do you like him or something?”

Seokmin's face turned a bright red and he nodded.

“By the way, Seokmin, don't forget that he _did_ talk to you and you choked.” Seungkwan reminded him.

“What was I supposed to do!?”

Jeonghan sighed and shook his head. “I'll say one thing though. This was the best year of my high school career. Last year I couldn't wait for high school to be over, but now I'm actually kind of sad.”

Seungkwan's lips formed a pout and he looked up at him with sad eyes “I'm going to miss you. You too, Jisoo.”

Jeonghan let out a sigh of endearment, “Jisoo, let's officially adopt Seungkwan as our first child.”

“Eh, I think it's a bit too soon for children.”

“But it's Seungkwan!”

“I mean I guess...but that does mean you have to stop trying to grab his butt.”

Jeonghan joined Seungkwan in his pouting, “But why? I'm just appreciative of his beauty.”

Wonwoo wiggled out of Mingyu's arms and got up, “This conversation is kind of getting away from me. I'll go get some snacks from the kitchen. Any requests?”

“You're a snack.” Mingyu mumbled, but not loud enough for Wonwoo to hear. Not clearly, anyway.

“I'm sorry what? I didn't catch that.” Wonwoo asked as he turned around to face his slightly flustered boyfriend.

“He said you're a snack.”

“Seungkwan!”

“What? You did!”

“Is that a compliment?” Wonwoo asked, not familiar with the term being used for people.

“It means he thinks you're yummy.” Seungkwan replied with a teasing smile in Mingyu's direction. He, admittedly, loved to see Mingyu squirm in his embarrassment at what came out of his own mouth.

“Or that he wants to eat you. If you know what I mean.” Jihoon decided this was a good time to join the conversation.

Jisoo clicked his tongue and got up from the couch. “You are all a bunch of miscreants! Wonwoo, I'll help you get the snacks. How about you guys pick a movie for us to watch.”

Jeonghan stared at Jisoo as he walked away and let out a prolonged sigh, “Mark my words, I'm going to spend the rest of my life with that man.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “Man. He's barely eighteen.”

“Don't disrespect your father!”

Seungkwan crawled up onto the couch where Jisoo had sat and put his head on Jeonghan's shoulder. “Aren't you going to miss him though?”

While Jeonghan and Jisoo were both going to attend college next year, they weren't going to the same one. They had talked about it, but eventually decided not to let their relationship determine their academic path in life. They'd make it work.

“Of course. But we'll still see each other on the weekends and we're not _that_ far apart.”

“It takes like ninety minutes using public transport! I don't think I could be that far away from my boyfriend...”

“What boyfriend? Mingyu snorted.

“Ugh, don't remind me of my lonely spinster status. It was fine when I was busy with school and all of my friends were single, but now...”

Hansol mouth had gone dry. Surely this would be a terrible moment to offer himself to Seungkwan (again), but all this relationship talk wasn't good for his brain. Jeonghan looked over at him and seemed to read his his mind and quickly tried to change the subject.

“I didn't come here to be sad about next year, I came here to have a slumber party!” he said to steer the conversation in a different direction, “So what are we doing? Play some lame slumber party game? Watch a sappy rom-com?”

“How about we take a group picture first?” Seungkwan suggested. “Who knows when all of us will be together again like this.”

“I said I didn't come here to be sad.” Jeonghan groaned.

When Jisoo and Wonwoo returned with the snacks, they gathered around the couch and set up Jihoon's phone (he had the best one) to take a group picture. It wouldn't be the last year that they'd come together and have some sort of sleepover, although who was in the picture wasn't always going to be the same.

<>

After an evening filled with snacks, more snacks, a movie, and a Mafia game that got them all way too excited for what it was, they decided to turn the living room floor into a messy arrangement of beds and change into their sleepwear to watch one more movie. Hansol was grateful Seungkwan changed in his room instead of with the rest of them in the living room. It already took a lot of restraint on his part to avert his eyes whenever they changed in the locker room at school. It wasn't even that he wanted to see Seungkwan naked or anything, he was just fascinated with the smoothness of his skin and he was curious about what it felt like. He had never thought of another person's skin like that.

Seungkwan walked back into the room with a pillow under one arm and his blanket under the other. “Sollie, I'm sleeping next to you, okay? I don't want to be wedged in between couples.” He leaned in and added in a whisper, “And I have a suspicion that Seok talks in his sleep.” Hansol just nodded sheepishly. During the movie Seungkwan sat awfully close and it was so nice and peaceful that for a moment Hansol forgot that he hadn't confessed his feelings yet. He was reminded when he got the urge to look for the other boy's hand under the blankets. He quickly placed his hands on top his blankets, safely away from the secret darkness underneath.

As the movie ended Seungkwan turned of the lights, but, as it goes at slumber parties, they didn't actually go to sleep right away. They filled the small hours of the night with talk about random things and reminiscing about the past year. After a discussion about who in the basketball team had the best calves (a pretty one sided discussion as it was mostly Jihoon who seemed to be into calves in the first place), Seungkwan decided to ask Wonwoo something that had been on his mind.

“So, Wonwoo, did you know Mingyu had a crush on you before you guys made out at the Battle of the Bands?”

“Oh my god, shut up!” Mingyu pulled his pillow out from under his head and reached his long arm across the people between him and Seungkwan and tried to hit him with it. He lay back down and without looking at Wonwoo, who was next to him, added, “...did you?”

“Honestly? Let's say I had a very strong suspicion that you did, yeah. If I hadn't, I never would have made my move on you that night.”

“Ha! I knew it. It was almost impossible for you to not notice with the way Mingyu was always staring at you with heart-eyes.” Seungkwan said filled with glee.

The irony of his statement was, sadly, completely lost on him, but keenly felt by Hansol.

“I like how you said ' _made my move'_.” Jeonghan chuckled, “You are a fine addition to our group.”

“I joined a little late...Thank you guys for inviting me today by the way.”

“Of course!” Seokmin answered, “We're happy to have you!”

“And just because we'll be going to college doesn't mean we can't all hang out anymore.” Jisoo added.

“Exactly, we have to make sure you kids don't get into too much trouble.” Jeonghan said.

Jihoon snorted in response, “Can you drop the angel persona, Han? We all know you better than that.”

As the conversations gradually died down they started to drift off into sleep one by one. Seungkwan rolled over in Hansol's direction and ended up so close to him that Hansol could feel his warm breath brushing against his skin. Seungkwan inhaled and breathed out slowly, “You smell nice.” he mumbled already half asleep. Hansol was wide awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -wtf am I even writing (@ 'He had never thought of another person's skin like that.')  
> -Hansol be like: o_o   
> -Wonwoo is settling in nicely with the group (he's been hanging with them during some lunchtimes too)  
> -Is Seungkwan lowkey looking for a new make out buddy now that Mingyu is taken? (he's not, lol)
> 
> The next one will be the next morning and boy...something will happen ._.
> 
> (side note: place your bets now on who Jeonghan and Jisoo's roommates are going to be next year? One of them is a SVT member. They won't have big parts (yet) but the cast will get bigger next year)


	27. HS1-26 Sleepover II - the next morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night has brought Hansol and Seungkwan closer than ever and Hansol's brain is melting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ happy weekend~

It had taken Hansol some time to finally be able to fall sleep and morning came far too quickly. Seungkwan must have moved more in his sleep because his leg was now swung over Hansol's lower body and his head leaned against his shoulder. Hansol was afraid to move. He didn't want to wake him and put an end to this. But at the same time it was killing him to know that it would only take a small shift in his position to be able to check out Seungkwan's sleeping face.

Eventually the temptation proved to be too much and very carefully Hansol turned on his side. He stiffened when Seungkwan moaned softly. Luckily he didn't seem to wake up further. What he did do was, in addition to his leg, move his arm and drape it over the body next to him, Hansol's body.

Now that Hansol had a better view of Seungkwan's face he wanted nothing more to reach out and stroke his cheek. He wanted to wrap him in his arms. He wanted to gently kiss him awake. Of course he didn't do any of those things. He couldn't imagine the look on Seungkwan's face if he suddenly woke up with him attached to his face. At least now it was Seungkwan who had his arms outside of his personal space and Hansol could just pretend he was still asleep and therefor hadn't noticed. And that's exactly what he did when he heard someone else in the room yawn loudly and, judging from the sounds, getting up.

More people started to wake up and he hoped that no-one would pay any attention to the way he was entangled in Seungkwan's wandering limbs. His eyes were closed but his ears were wide open and trying to catch what the others were saying. He heard Mingyu whisper something about wanting to smack Seungkwan with a pillow to wake him up. Jeonghan told Mingyu to leave him alone and to let them sleep. He didn't know if Jeonghan saw through his pretending to be asleep or if he just wanted to give Hansol this moment to be close to Seungkwan, but either way he was grateful. The voices left the room, presumably to the kitchen, and Hansol wondered if they were alone now. He couldn't be sure that everyone had already woken up. He peeled his eyes open slightly and he moved cautiously to check around them. Jihoon was still asleep on the couch above their heads, but he was fairly certain the rest of them were gone. He let his eyes close again and he started to drift back to a light sleep.

Meanwhile Seungkwan was slowly waking up and stretched his arm into the air. He let it fall back down on his pillow that was oddly big and firm. That was when he started to realize that it wasn't a pillow he was holding onto. He opened his eyes and quickly pulled his limbs back after he found himself extremely close to Hansol. “Oh, ehm, sorry.” he whispered awkwardly with a voice still drenched in sleep when Hansol also opened his eyes and looked at him.

“That's okay.” Hansol whispered back. He was only about seventy percent sure that he was really awake and he wasn't about to wake himself up if this was just a dream.

Seungkwan didn't know if it was because he wasn't fully awake yet, but he didn't really want to move. Even with his arm and leg away from Hansol's body they were still very close to each other. For a moment they just looked at each other and Seungkwan got a feeling in his stomach that he mistook for hunger. He pulled himself away from Hansol's gaze and sat up. Hansol looked up at him and wanted to scream into the nearest pillow. Seungkwan's bedhair made him look like a messy sheep and it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. He was starting to think this whole sleepover was designed to torture him. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from audibly squealing. He wasn't the type to go crazy over cute things, but Seungkwan was on another level.

“I think I hear the others in the kitchen. Let's get some breakfast.” He grabbed a pillow and threw it back onto the couch, “Jihoon! Breakfast!”

Moments later they were all squeezed together around the table. There weren't enough chairs, but neither Jeonghan nor Wonwoo seemed to mind using their respective boyfriends as seats.

Seungkwan closed the fridge and walked over, “Who wants some orange juice? Hansol?” Seungkwan looked at him holding up a carton of juice. His hair was still a mess and there wasn't really anything different about him than usual. But still, it felt different to Hansol. He felt like everything was moving in slow motion and yet he wasn't quick enough to stop himself.

“I'm in love with you.”

Mingyu dropped his toast from his hands in shock. Jihoon facepalmed. All other eyes were wide and focused on Hansol and Seungkwan. Seungkwan, still with the carton of juice in his hands, was dumbfounded. He just stood there with his mouth half open, waiting for Hansol to laugh at his flustered face and tell him he was kidding. But that moment didn't come. Instead Hansol looked just as surprised by his own words as the rest of the table. Without saying another word he got up and hurried away from the others. Nobody moved. A few moments later they could hear the front door getting slammed shut.

Seungkwan placed the juice on the table. “Will you guys excuse me, I'm going to take a shower.”

“Seungkwan...” Jeonghan said, “...don't you think you should do something?”

“I'm going to take a shower.”

The others watched him walk away in silence.

“Should one of us go after Hansol? To check if he's okay?” Seokmin suggested.

“If I had just randomly confessed my love for someone and it was followed by dead silence and I had ran out, I really wouldn't want anyone to follow me.” Jihoon replied. “But that might just be me.”

“I really didn't see this coming. Hansol in love with Seungkwan? Who would have thought.” Mingyu said, still not recovered from the sudden declaration of love.

“Please, me and Jihoon have been listening to his rants for months.” Jeonghan confessed. He had hoped Hansol would tell Seungkwan about his feelings, but this wasn't really the way he had imagined it happening. Judging from what just happened, Hansol probably hadn't either.

“Well hurray for you for getting the inside scoop, but the rest of us had no idea! Right, guys?”

“Honestly, I didn't know for sure, but have you seen the way he looks at him?” Jisoo answered.

Seokmin nodded, “I thought everybody knew but that we were collectively ignoring it.”

“I can't believe what I'm hearing! Wonwoo? You didn't know, right?”

“Well, I mean...it's pretty obvious, don't you think?”

Mingyu gasped as if his boyfriend had just utterly betrayed him, “No! And clearly Seungkwan had no idea either!”

“What's more important...” Jeonghan interrupted, “...is what Seungkwan's going to do now. He seemed kind of shocked. Mingyu, has Seungkwan ever mentioned his feelings for Hansol to you?”

Mingyu shook his head, “No, not directly, but I know he really likes him. Like, a lot, but I don't know what that means. I don't think he has ever considered the possibility of Hansol as a potential love interest.”

They continued to discuss the possibility of Seungkwan's feelings until, not that much later, they were stopped by Seungkwan re-emerging from the bathroom. He walked over to them. “I'm going out.” He stated plain and simple.

“Where are you going?” Jihoon asked of him.

“I...I'm not sure.” He held up a phone that wasn't his, “He forgot his phone, so I can't reach him. I'll see you guys later. Feel free to stay here and finish breakfast. Let me know if you guys leave.”

“Wait, Seungkwan! What are you going to say to him?”

“I have to find him first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohohoho, FINALLY he confessed...sort of...but it most definitely wasn't perfect, lol.
> 
> What do you guys think of their little moment before Hansol blurted out his confession?


	28. HS1-27 Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan sets out to find Hansol after he ran off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't get too used to me updating so much ._. I just really wanted to reach this point, but it will be a bit slower from now on >.<
> 
> (Also: Happy Mingyu day...he's not in this chapter lol)

Seungkwan closed his front door and sighed. He had hoped that Hansol hadn't gone too far, because how was he supposed to find him? He looked around for Hansol's bike, but it was gone. Which meant that he could be anywhere by now. Seungkwan always took the bus to school and he had never bothered to fix his bike when he got a flat tire a while back, so, without any better ideas on how to find him he started walking the way he knew Hansol would most likely ride if he was heading home.

The longer he walked the more he started to feel anxious that he would never find him and he picked up the pace of his steps. Their houses weren't even all that far apart, but finding a needle in a haystack is still a daunting task even if the stack is small.

Seungkwan tried his best to imagine where Hansol would go and he didn't even start to think about what he was actually going to do or say when he'd find him. He was basically running by now. He stopped at a red light and as he was catching his breath and looked around, his eyes landed on the park across the street on the left. He knew this park and it was mostly used by people who walked their dogs in the morning and evening, but was usually pretty quiet. When the light turned green he hesitated. The park was away from the route to Hansol's house. Seungkwan crossed the street towards it anyway.

He wasn't running anymore, but the urgency hadn't left his stride. The park was indeed fairly empty and there were hardly any people. He had almost completely circled around when he noticed a path forking off from the main one that was partly covered by some low hanging branches. Knowing he would kick himself if he didn't at least check now that he was here anyway, he took his feet in that direction. It lead to a part of the park that he didn't remember ever having been in. It was almost like another, smaller, park within the main park, separated by a line of trees. He followed the bend of the path and as the outskirt of this patch of the park revealed itself his heart skipped a beat. There, on a lonely bench, sat a familiar figure. His bicycle was propped up against the side of the bench and he either hadn't heard the approaching footsteps or just hadn't taken notice.

Seungkwan gripped the phone he had been holding in his right hand a little tighter and walked over. He stood still behind the bench. “You left your phone at my place.”

As soon as he opened his mouth Hansol's body jerked up in surprise, but just as quickly shrank back down. Seungkwan walked around the bench to stand in front of him and held out the phone. “Here.”

Hansol reached out his hand without meeting his eyes and took his phone from him. “Thanks.” he mumbled.

“So...can we talk?” Seungkwan asked as he sat down next to him on the bench, leaving some distance between them. He had started to wonder why he had to go through the effort of tracking Hansol down and getting him to talk to him when it was Hansol who had dropped a bomb on his head in the first place.

Hansol nodded, still with his eyes focused on somewhere that wasn't Seungkwan. As much as he was dreading it, he supposed he kind of had to talk to him after his failed confession.

For a moment Seungkwan waited for Hansol to start talking, but quickly lost his patience and decided to break the silence himself. “I just want to say that you can't just say that you're in love with me and then take off. What am I supposed to think, Hansol? Was it a joke? Did you not really mean it? Or what?”

“It wasn't a joke...”

Seungkwan didn't say anything. It hadn't really felt like a joke. But the concept of Hansol being in love with him didn't feel like reality and part of him was convinced there must have been some sort of other explanation for what he had said.

“I just...” Hansol continued, “...I hadn't meant to just blurt it out like that.” He forced himself to face Seungkwan and he wished he could tell what he was thinking. “I've been trying to figure out if I should tell you and if so how and...I first spent all that time thinking you were together with Mingyu, but then he got with Wonwoo and I didn't want to ruin our friendship and then this morning you were sleeping so close to me and you looked so adorable with your sheep-like bedhair and I just...couldn't hold it in any longer.” Seungkwan was still silent. “H-how do you feel about me? Please just be honest.”

Seungkwan swallowed, “I mean...I don't think I've ever really thought about it. I feel...that you are a someone who is genuinely nice, seeing your dopey smile when I'm having a bad day always makes me feel better, I have to admit that you're ridiculously handsome, but not in an intimidating way that it would make you unapproachable, and, I guess that when I'm with you...I feel...light.” Seungkwan stopped. He wasn't sure what was happening. Why was he saying all these things. Had he always felt so strongly about Hansol?

Hansol chuckled nervously, “But you haven't really thought about it.”

“I...” Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows together and he had trouble giving voice to what was going on inside him.

“Seungkwan what's wrong? You look upset?” Hansol reached out for Seungkwan's hand that was wrapped around the edge of the bench, but stopped himself before making contact and pulled back. “I'm sorry...”

Seungkwan re-focused his gaze and looked Hansol straight in the eyes, “Are you sure you're in love with me?”

“Very sure. Just ask Jeonghan and Jihoon, I've ranted about it more than once.”

Seungkwan nodded slowly, again bringing his eyebrows together, “OK. Good. That's good. Because I think...I think I have feelings for you too.” He still felt confused by what was going on, but when he heard himself say it, it did seem to make sense.

“You... _think_?”

“Well, you did just kind of sprang this on me and now I suddenly have to deal with realizing that I've probably liked you for some time and I was too stupid to even know what I was feeling! How am I supposed to know what's real anymore?”

Hansol timidly scooted a little closer, “Can I...can I kiss you?”

Seungkwan shyly bit on his lower lip, but didn't say anything.

“...it might help you know for sure how you feel about me.”

Seungkwan nodded. A valid point. He closed his eyes and his heartbeat became increasingly rapid as the distance between them disappeared. The moment their lips touched he felt it. Fireworks. He had kissed multiple people before, but it had never quite felt like this. It was hard to describe the feeling that erupted inside of him, but fireworks came closest.

When he pulled back Hansol bashfully bit his lip and looked at the other boy with questioning eyes, “And?”

“...wow...” Seungkwan wasn't able to say anything else even if he had wanted to.

“Yeah?” Hansol said and his lips curled up into a smile.

Seungkwan just nodded as he stared at him. It might have been his imagination, but suddenly the world around him seemed brighter.

“Okay, so...” Hansol wiped his hands on his pants, worried that they had become a bit sweaty from being nervous, and took a hasty, shallow breath. He gingerly took Seungkwan's hand in his own, “...let me do this again.” He looked him in the eyes and swallowed before he finally said the words that had been burning a hole in his gray matter for ages, “Seungkwan, I'm in love with you. Do you maybe want to be my boyfriend?”

Seungkwan's face broke into a smile, “Oh, definitely. But, eh, just to be sure...maybe you should kiss me again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Is the way he found him realistic and would this actually happen in real life? Probably not. But...it's not real life, so whatever, lol.   
> -AAAWWW look at them all shy  
> -A moment to think back at some hints that Seungkwan always had the potential to fall for Hansol: the first day they met and Seungkwan thought about how beautiful he was; Hansol defending him in the locker room; the way it was really important for him that Hansol would be in the crowd watching him perform; the way he was nervous until Hansol came by and made him feel better; earlier this day when he woke up and stared into his eyes.
> 
> A few things:  
> -This is only the tip of the iceberg story-wise.   
> -It will be a few chapters before we start the next year of high school (maybe 2?)  
> -Right now there are three couples: Mingyu/Wonwoo Jisoo/Jeonghan and now Hansol/Seungkwan. Please be reminded of the tags that are currently in place...not all of these couples will survive (I won't say who, when, where, why, but...just so you know).
> 
> I hope their little get-together doesn't feel like an anti-climax or something after all the pining Hansol did LOL  
> Next time: Seungkwan and Hansol start to adjust to their new dynamic. Seungkwan can't wait to tell the others, Hansol thinks they should go on a date, and Seungkwan worries about kissing etiquette


	29. HS1-28 First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan and Hansol go on a date, it doesn't end quite in the way Seungkwan was expecting (hoping) it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha, I'm so tired. Corona stress has caught up with me :/ I want to write so bad, but...luckily this one was almost finished already anyway! Good night~

They were still sitting on the same bench with their fingers interlaced. It was a sunny day and it felt nice to just sit there for a while. Holding each other's hand like this still felt slightly unfamiliar, but not uncomfortable in any way. It was only about twenty percent awkward. It became slightly more awkward when their peaceful silence was broken by a growl of Seungkwan's stomach.

“Are you hungry?” Hansol's own stomach joined the request for food and they both chuckled, the awkwardness already gone.

“We never ate breakfast.” Seungkwan said.

Hansol reluctantly let go of Seungkwan's hand and got up. “Wait right here. There's a convenience store really close. I'll go get us some food on my bike. I'll be back super fast!”

Seungkwan turned around on the bench to watch Hansol ride away and as soon as he was out of sight he wasted no time to sit back down and pull out his phone to call his best friend. He picked up almost immediately. “Mingyu, the things that have happened, I can't even begin to comprehend.”

“ _Calm down!_ ” Mingyu's voice yelled from the other side, although he was the one who sounded like he needed to calm down, “ _T_ _ell me everything! Or more, wait a sec so I can put you on speaker and you can tell everybody everything. We're all dying over here._ ”

“Wait, are you all still at my house?”

“ _...you said it was okay._ _Besides, you can't expect us to just up and leave in a situation such as this! Why are you calling? Are you alone? What happened? I-_ ”

“Will you let me speak? Hansol will be back soon. He's just gone to get us some food.”

“So _you guys talk_ _ed_ _already?_ ” Jisoo's voice joined the conversation.

“Yeah, yeah. But let me tell what happened. So, when I came outside his bike was gone and I had no idea how to find him so I just started walking in the direction I thought he might had gone in. Like destiny I decided to follow my gut and check out this park that's sort of on the way. I found him there sitting on a bench and I went to him and was all like _'you can't just run away after saying you're in love with me_ _'_ and then he was like ' _well how do you feel about me_?' So I thought about it and started rambling about all the things I like about him and well...long story short I like him back.”

The voices of his friends erupted in a mix of cheers and teasing _ooohs_. When they calmed down Seungkwan added, “I hate us for not realizing it.”

“ _Who is us?_ ” Mingyu asked. .

“You and me. I blame you just as much as I blame myself. As my best friend you should have seen it.”

“ _Wha- How is any of this on me!?_ ”

“Shh, I still need to tell you the good part. So he goes ' _Can I kiss you?_ '”

A squeal from the other end of the line, “Oh my god!!! What did you say?”

“I just nodded and let it happen. I...it was prefect. Just on the lips, but it was so sweet. And then after we kissed he asked me to be his boyfriend and I said yes. No, wait. I was cooler than that, I said 'Oh, definitely.' and then I told him to kiss me again. And now we've just been sitting here holding hands. So, eh, I guess you guys can just go home? I'm sorry to end the slumber party like this, but...no actually, who am I kidding. I'm not sorry really.”

“ _What are you guys going to do now?_ ”

“I'm not sure actually. For now just sit here and eat when he gets back I guess. Maybe we'll-” He let out a soft yelp of surprise when a plastic bag was suddenly placed next to him on the bench. Hansol stepped over the back and sat down with a smirk.

“I gotta go.” Seungkwan whispered into the phone and hung up.

“So I take it all of our friends know already?” Hansol asked with a raised eyebrow to match his smirk.

“Eh...Sorry...I think I would have burst if I didn't tell Mingyu.”

“It's fine. I'm sure they all wanted to know. Anyway...” He opened the bag and pulled out a couple of sandwiches. “So...I was thinking. Maybe we can go on a date or something tomorrow?”

{the next day}

Seungkwan stood in front of his mirror trying to decide if what he was wearing was good enough for his first real date with his brand new boyfriend. Yesterday they had spent a significant amount of time just sitting on that park bench, holding hands and letting the new situation sink in while casually chatting and coming up with what to do for their first date.

“ _Why are you so nervous_ _anyway_ _? You guys are friends and you've_ _already kissed_ _._ ” Mingyu's voice came from Seungkwan's phone on the bed.

“It's different! Last time it was in the moment and all that! Now I'm just constantly thinking about it...his lips, my lips, are we going to use tongue this time, how much tongue...I think we should use tongue.”

“ _So break the tension. Kiss him at the_ beginning _of the date!_ _Your mom will be at work anyway, right?_ ”

“I can't do that! There are certain first date rules and one of them is that you don't start it with kissing.”

“ _Then just stop worrying about it! You'll kiss when you'll kiss. Just go with the flow or whatever. Just enjoy your date.”_

“Okay, okay. I'm gonna send you a pic of my outfit now so you can tell me I look great.”

About twenty minutes later he got a message from Hansol saying he was outside. Seungkwan hurried out. His face broke into a smile when he saw him standing there with his bike. “You know you could have just rang the bell?”

Hansol looked at him as if the idea of a doorbell was a foreign concept to him,”Oh...yeah. So, eh, do you want to take your own bike or ride on the back of mine?”

“Oh, shit! My bicycle has a flat tire! I'm sorry, I totally forgot!”

“That's okay. Hop on.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

Unlike the last time that Seungkwan had taken a ride on the back of his bike, Hansol didn't suppress the urge to tell Seungkwan to hold on to him as he started pedaling. His stomach filled with butterflies as he felt Seungkwan snake his arms around his waist from behind. It wasn't quite as close as he wanted him to be, but it was good for now.

Yesterday Seungkwan had told him about a new popular ice cream shop where you can choose from countless of toppings and create your own unique sundae. He had seemed so excited about it that Hansol wouldn't have been able to suggest anything else after that even if he had wanted to.

Hansol stopped in front of the shop. Seungkwan groaned when he got off. He had enjoyed the excuse to hold onto Hansol's warm body, but it hadn't been the most comfortable ride ever. “I really need to figure out how to fix a flat tire. I can't make you ride me around all summer and I know you don't really like taking the bus when the weather is nice.”

“I can fix it for you if you want?” Hansol suggested as he locked his bike. He also couldn't help the smile that crept on his face knowing that Seungkwan was already talking about spending the coming weeks of vacation together.

“Really?”

“Sure. I'll come over tomorrow and fix it. It's no big deal. I'll teach you.”

Seungkwan happily latched himself onto his boyfriend's arm, “You're so useful, Sollie.”

<>

They sat down at a table in the middle of the shop with their ice cream creation. Between Seungkwan being unable to choose between all the toppings that he wanted to try and Hansol just agreeing to whatever, they had ended up with a whole mess. Nevertheless, Seungkwan stopped Hansol from starting because he wanted to take a picture. “I need to document this historic moment, Hansol. It's our first food as a couple.”

“No it isn't. We had convenience store food yesterday. Remember?”

Seungkwan froze in the middle of taking a picture, “I...didn't get a picture of that.”

Hansol chuckled, “So? It was just some sandwiches.”

“It was our first food as a couple!” Seungkwan exclaimed. He saw a few heads turning in their direction and suddenly Seungkwan realized that the rest of the clientele were either girls together or couples. They were the only two boys. He hated the fact that if he had come here with a friend, not his boyfriend, he probably wouldn't have even cared. But now he was starting to feel self-conscious about it. He put his phone down on the table and bit down on his lower lip. “Forget it. Let's just eat it.”

“Did you take the picture?”

Seungkwan only shrugged in response.

“I have an idea,” he placed his hand on the table with the palm facing upward, “Give me your hand. We can take a picture that isn't just food.”

Seungkwan hesitated for a moment, but if Hansol didn't care about holding his hand in public, he didn't want to let what others were thinking bother him either. So he placed his hand on top of Hansol's and let him interlace their fingers.

“Now take the picture so we can eat this abomination that we created.”

With a slight blush on his face Seungkwan picked up his phone again and took a picture that showed both their self-created sundae and their hands next to it on the table. An Instagram worthy shot, if he said so himself. When the group of girls a few tables over started giggling he pulled back his hand to picked up a spoon. “Thank you. I'll send you the picture later, okay?”

Hansol nodded and smiled. Maybe he would have cared too about the people around them who seemed to have an opinion on their behavior, but he was barely aware of their presence in the first place. He just saw Seungkwan.

<>

After the ice cream they had walked around, popping in and out of stores that one or the other found interesting. Seungkwan spent quite some time browsing a sporting goods store, saying how he missed playing volleyball; Hansol had shown him the type of clothes he liked. All in all it had been a very nice date. One of the best parts, for Seungkwan at least, was how it felt new and exciting, but at the same time like nothing had changed between them at all.

Now, Hansol was dropping him off back home with the promise to be back tomorrow. Seungkwan was standing next to him in front of the main entrance of his apartment building. He scanned the area around them and found there were no other people in sight. Hansol leaned in and Seungkwan was about to close his eyes, expecting to be kissed. And he was. Sort of. Except that Hansol's lips landed on his cheek and it didn't seem to be a mistake. He pulled away again with a bashful smile. “I'll see you tomorrow then.”

Seungkwan stared at him in disbelief as he rode away. Before he was even inside he had pulled out his phone, “He kissed me on the CHEEK, Mingyu! The CHEEK!” he yelled as he closed the door behind him and took off his shoes.

“ _Hello to you too. Calm down, will you?_ _What happened?_ ”

“We had a nice date. Ate ice cream, cute picture, even held hands and all that. And then he brought me back home and we were saying goodbye and there weren't any people around and he leans in and he kisses me ON. THE. CHEEK. What am I supposed to do now?”

“ _Maybe he was_ _just_ _trying to be a gentleman?_ ”

“Why!? Doesn't he know that I want his tongue in my mouth?” He let himself fall down onto the couch and sighed loudly.

“ _Well, why does he have to make the first move? Why don't_ you _put_ your _tongue in_ his _mouth?_ ”

“...what if he doesn't really want my tongue in his mouth? What if he changed his mind about the whole thing and is just too nice to say it.”

“I highly doubt that's the case. Jeonghan has told me how much pining Hansol has done over the year...”

“Really? I still can't believe I never noticed.”

“Jeonghan said that because he thought you and I were together or something he tried to keep his feelings to himself. Successfully I guess.”

“Dammit, he's so nice. Now I want to kiss him even more. He's coming over tomorrow to fix my bike. If he doesn't make a move I guess I will. By the way, have you noticed how beautiful he is when he smiles? And the way he laughs is so cute. I-”

“ _Oh by the way!_ ” Mingyu interrupted Seungkwan's rant, “ _Me and Wonwoo were talking and we thought that it might be nice if we went on a double date or something! I want to go to the zoo._ ”

“Oh my gosh! I hadn't even considered the potential of double dates! Honestly I was sort of dreading having to spend the summer third-wheeling you guys, but now I don't have to! This is so great! We can even go on triple dates with Jisoo and Jeonghan!”

“ _Now I'm starting to feel bad for Jihoon and Seokmin...”_

“They'll be fine as each other's surrogate dates for an outing or two with the whole group. But, anyway, let's do that double date thing first! It sort of stops being a date if we go with the whole group, doesn't it?”

“ _Yay! We'll figure it out later. You just go and kiss him first. I don't want any awkward built up tension between you guys when we hang out!”_

“I'll take care of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might jam all summer dates in one chapter (like...a short bit per date. Writing dates is exhausting...haha)
> 
> Hansol...dude...just go for it? It's ok? He wants you to? Are you just a nervous little bub? Still? You were so chill during the date?
> 
> Drop me a comment if you thought their date was cute or whatever!


	30. HS1-29 Kiss & Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol is coming over to fix Seungkwan's bike. Seungkwan is determined to lock lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My week was craaazzzy busy/stressful so I'm happy to get some writing time in the weekend now~
> 
> Hope everyone is doing ok!
> 
> Also, I had ZERO idea what to name this chapter...it's like..Kiss & Tell, but talk because they talk about a few things, lol

The next morning Seungkwan was standing outside, leaning against the wall. Hansol had texted him when he left his house that he was on his way and Seungkwan didn't want to wait inside. So now he was staring at the road waiting for his boyfriend to arrive. He had been doing some thinking about the kissing thing and had first come to the conclusion that maybe Hansol had been holding back yesterday because they had been outside. But then he remembered they had been outside on that park bench when they kissed last time as well. The thought that Hansol might have changed his mind about liking him was still there, but he tried to push that line of reasoning out of his head. Either way, Seungkwan figured it might feel more comfortable if they were inside. It was a weekday now and his mother was going to be at work for most of it, so there would be plenty of time to figure it all out.

Seungkwan's face broke into a smile when Hansol finally pulled up and hopped off his bike.

“Good morning.” Seungkwan beamed at him.

“Morning.”

“Do you want something to drink first? Inside.” The moment his eyes had landed on the other boy Seungkwan's resolution to go with the flow and see how the day was going to play out was out the window. He wanted to kiss him, to be kissed by him. If what Mingyu had said was true and Hansol had in fact been wanting to be with Seungkwan for months already, there shouldn't really be a problem, right?

But Hansol shook his head, “Nah, I'm good. Let's get to work on your bike. Shouldn't take too long. Is it this one?” He asked as he placed his own bike against the side of the building.

“Eh, sure. Yeah, it's that one...”

“Great.” He squatted down in front of it and started to inspect the flat tire.

With a bit of a pout on his lips Seungkwan squatted down next to him. It was nice that he was so willing to fix his bike for him and there was no logical in thinking that Hansol knew Seungkwan wanted to go inside so they could kiss, but he felt disappointed all the same.

“Okay so, first what we need to do is get the tire off so we can find just where the leak is.” He shrugged his backpack off his shoulder and started rummaging through it, taking out various tools. “I didn't know what you'd have so I just brought my stuff. You do have a pump, right?”

“Eh, yeah, I think so.” Seungkwan mumbled back. He honestly had close to zero interest in learning how to fix a bicycle tire. He might had been able to get into it if he wasn't so distracted. He just kept stealing glances at Hansol as he explained what he was doing. There even was a moment where their eyes met and stopped talking. Seungkwan was already leaning in when Hansol suddenly stood up, causing Seungkwan to almost topple over. Not to mention all the times their hands touched when Hansol showed him how to do something.

When the tire was finally patched up and filled with air Hansol gave a satisfied nod. “See? That wasn't so hard, was it?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“So, eh, my hands are pretty dirty...and I'm kinda thirsty now.” Hansol pointed out and immediately Seungkwan started to walk to the entrance.

“Okay, yes, let's get inside. We can wash up and get something to drink. I'm pretty thirsty myself actually.”

<>

They were sitting on the living room couch. There was a weird awkward atmosphere hanging in the air around them. Hansol took a tiny sip from his glass and placed his drink next to Seungkwan's on the coffee table. Seungkwan looked at him, but his gaze wasn't met. He scooted closer with the intent of making the first move instead of waiting for Hansol to do it, but when he noticed just how stiff Hansol was sitting he reconsidered. His whole demeanor screamed _uncomfortable_. Seungkwan let out a soft sigh. “Hansol? You seem super uneasy right now...what's going on? Did I do something wrong?”

“No! I'm sorry. I'm just nervous I guess. It's fine when we're outside doing something, but when we're alone like this...I just get nervous.”

“Why? Don't you want to be alone with me?” _Don't you want to kiss me?_

“What!? No! I totally want to be alone with you! And I want to...kiss you, but...”

“Do you? Because yesterday when you dropped me off there totally was a vibe going on and you kissed me on the cheek. The CHEEK, Hansol! And just now outside there was also a moment and you just got up. I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do, but we kissed that one time so I don't understand why you suddenly don't want to anymore...”

“I do want to! Fuck, I want to so much! But all this time I've been imagining it, thinking about it, and now I'm just not sure if it's really happening. And I know we kissed and I even asked you to, but I don't even know how I managed to say those words!”

Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows together, “So...you're not kissing me, because you want to kiss me?”

“When you say it like that it sounds a bit silly, I guess.”

“It's ridiculous. I thought you had changed your mind about liking me.”

“Oh shit, no, Seungkwan, that's not-”

Seungkwan scooted even closer, not letting him finish what he was saying. “So, how about I kiss you instead?”

Hansol swallowed and nodded.

Seungkwan sat up and leaned in to greet Hansol's lips with his own. Hansol inhaled in pleasant surprise when Seungkwan timidly ran the tip of his tongue over his top lip, but it didn't take long before Hansol had gingerly joined it with his own. As they slowly started to explore more of each other's mouths, they got more comfortable and their bodies relaxed. Seungkwan moved one hand up to cup the side of Hansol's face and he felt a hand on the small of his back, urging him a bit closer.

It was strange. Honestly speaking, Hansol wasn't even all that good at it, but kissing him made Seungkwan want to roll around on the floor giggling like an idiot. Maybe this was what being in love felt like.

Their lips disconnected with a subtle smacking sound when Seungkwan pulled away. Hansol stared at him with such an adoring gaze that Seungkwan thought he must have been blind to never notice it before if this was the way Hansol had been staring at him throughout the year.

“You make my head spin, Boo Seungkwan.”He whispered.

Seungkwan's lips shyly curled up into a smile, “In a good way, I hope?”

“In the best way.”

<>

Eventually they could no longer ignore their growling stomachs and put a temporary end to their make-out session on Seungkwan's couch. Neither of them felt like spending a lot of time and effort into making something, but they also didn't want to go out. So they settled on some instant ramen they found in one of the kitchen cupboards.

“Oh, I just remembered.” Seungkwan said, covering his mouth as he chew, “I was talking to Mingyu before and how do you feel about going on a double date with him and Wonwoo?”

“Oh, eh, sure.” Hansol's first instinct was to feel like he didn't want to share Seungkwan with anyone now that he had him to himself, especially Mingyu. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to get around it. Mingyu was Seungkwan's best friend and he did actually like him as a person.

Seungkwan saw the hesitance in his boyfriend's eyes. “Hansol...I know you already know this, but I feel like I need to repeat it. Me and Mingyu were never together. There's _nothing_ going on between us. But he's my best friend and I'd really like it if we can hang out with him and Wonwoo as two couples sometimes.

Hansol's expression softened, “Of course.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek. He put his chopsticks down, having finished his food, and took Seungkwan's hand and tangled their fingers together. He stood up and led them back to the couch. “There's also something I want to talk about...”

“Oh?”

“Yesterday at the ice cream shop, did you mind holding hands with me like that? In public, I mean.”

“Oh...I...I did and I didn't. Of course I want to hold your hand and not give a fuck about what others might think about it, but I couldn't help feeling aware of the attention we drew. And these weren't even people we knew...I know I once said that if I'd ever get a boyfriend the whole world could know about it, but...”

Hansol nodded. “...It might not be the best idea to be so obvious about the fact we're dating.”

Seungkwan bit his lower lip, “But I don't want us to _never_ hold hands or like...kiss each other goodbye. But some places feel safer than others. Can't we just decide what to do based on where we are and how we're feeling in that moment?”

“I think that's a good idea. What are we going to do with school though?”

“Well, we'll get up, go to class, you'll fall asleep, I'll actually pay attention and later you'll copy my notes while I roll my eyes and hopefully we'll go to my place after school for homework and making out.”

Hansol chuckled, “Yeah, that sounds nice, but that's not entirely what I meant.”

Seungkwan sighed and sank into the couch without letting go of Hansol's hand, “I know. High school is hard enough as it is and I don't want to put a target on our backs. Especially yours. I mean...most people already think I'm gay anyway, but you...I'm not sure how people would react to you dating a guy...So, I guess it's probably easier if we pretend like nothing has changed between us. Besides, none of our other dating friends have come out at school. Not so sure I want to be a trendsetter in this area.”

Hansol nodded in agreement He wasn't one to hide who he was, but at the same time he felt like it was no-one's business anyway. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, “Can I ask for one favor?”

“What?”

“Can we please make-out in the locker room? Just once? We'll be super careful and make sure we are alone, but a part of me really really wants to make out in the jock space.”

Seungkwan scoffed at that, “You're kind of a jock yourself, you know? And don't forget I'm on the basketball team too!”

Hansol nuzzled Seungkwan's neck, “You know what I mean. I mean those guys that are always acting like assholes, like Taesung. They think of the locker room as the ultimate masculine space, which is ironic since everybody is always wet and half-naked there.”

“Actually, it's kind of perfect. You probably don't even remember this, but when I first joined the team and some of those guys were talking about how they were afraid I'd check them out or something, you stood up for me.”

“You heard that? I didn't even know you were there.”

Seungkwan nodded.

“Did you think I was cool?”

Seungkwan snickered, “I did actually. I called it 'the locker-room defense'.”

“Okay, so to summarize. When we're out in public we'll read the mood and we won't act 'couplely' at school. With the exception of making out in the locker room once or twice.”

“By the way, do I need to be worried that you went from being afraid to kiss me to talking about making out in public spaces in like an hour?”

Hansol wrapped him tighter in his arms, “What can I say? You just bring it out in me.”

Seungkwan tilted his head back so they could share a quick kiss. He sighed. “I can't believe I'm supposed to go visit my dad for three weeks...how am I supposed to survive not seeing you for that long.” He felt the arms around him loosening up.

“You're leaving for three weeks?”

Seungkwan untangled himself and sat up to face him, “I'm sorry I didn't tell you. With everything that happened it sort of slipped my mind. But I'm not leaving until the end of next week! And summer vacation won't even be over yet when I get back!”

Hansol groaned, “Except that me and my family are going on vacation in a few weeks and we get back a few days before the new school year.”

Seungkwan slumped his shoulders in disappointment, “Oh...” They looked at each other with sad faces. Suddenly Seungkwan jumped up, “This just means that we have to cram as much dates and summer fun time as we can into the time that we have! We're starting tonight! Let's get all the guys together for a barbeque in the park and tomorrow we'll go to the pool and the day after that we'll just chill with the two of us and then after that we'll go on that double date to the zoo and then-”

He was cut off by a hand pulling him back onto the couch. Hansol cupped his cheeks, “We'll do all of that, but first...” he pulled his face closer and pressed their lips together, “...I need to kiss you some more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, Hansol...I am so sorry for making you 'not all that good at it', but not everybody had a make out practice buddy like Seungkwan, ok?!
> 
> So...eh...I've decided to not go on a write all the actual dates because I just know it will take me forever to write and I just want to get into the next school year (for which I do have a bunch written already, but I need to complete some stuff and change some things in the main plot order and stuff). I'll be posting a sort of summary of the whole first year and a bit of a preview for the next one before I start posting new chaps.


	31. HS2-1 Back to School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the next year of high school to start!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha I didn't do the recap thing because well...I started writing it...but I couldn't get it right. There was too much stuff to get in there and it was taking me more time than it's worth! So instead I'm just here with a new chapter! (notice how chapter titles have gone from HS1 to HS2) I'll remind you lovely readers about anything that happened in past chapters if it's relevant and I think you might have forgotten, lol.

Seungkwan had spent three weeks of his summer vacation visiting his father. While it was nice to see him, they weren't very good at communicating with each other and most of the time things felt a bit awkward. He was grateful for the time he could spend with his older sisters, but it was strange how much that place, that house, that town, already didn't feel like home. He missed his friends and, most of all, he missed Hansol. He hadn't told anyone in his family yet that he had a boyfriend and he wasn't sure how to bring it up. So he didn't.

When he got back Hansol was still away on vacation. Eventhough they had continued to send each other messages every day and video call every once in a while, it had been close to torture waiting to see him again. The worst was watching a movie over at Mingyu's with Wonwoo. While those two were fused together on the couch, Seungkwan just had to sit there and sulk in his boyfriend's absence.

The last bit of summer vacation, after Hansol had returned, had been filled to the brim with activities. Dates with just the two of them, hanging out with their friends, being forced to vote on polls made by Jeonghan about his interior design choices for his new dorm room.

But now the summer was over and Seungkwan stood in front of his mirror to get ready for the first day of the new school year. Last year he had been nervous about coming to this school when the year had already started. He had been nervous about being the new kid and about standing out for the wrong reasons and not finding any friends. Although finding friends was no longer an issue he had to concern himself with, the standing out for the wrong reasons part was something still nagging at him in his mind. He and Hansol had decided to keep their relationship on the down low when at school, knowing that the chance their classmates would be less than accepting was high. But Seungkwan didn't know where the line was between their classmates just thinking they were close friends and them seeing that something more was going on between them. Maybe actively trying to act different around him was what was going to set people off. And maybe he was just over-thinking everything and worried for nothing. He didn't even care if people knew he was gay. They all thought it already anyway. It was more Hansol he was worried about. He might seem like a pretty chill guy, but Seungkwan had no idea how he would handle getting made fun of for being in a relationship with another boy. He'd rather avoid such a situation all together.

But first things first. He had gotten a message from Jihoon asking him to meet him and Seokmin in the music room before class. He had no idea what he wanted, but since it was the beginning of the new year he might want to discuss how they'd go about getting some new members. When he got there they were already inside waiting for him. Seokmin looked at him with a sense of nervousness and apology. Jihoon just looked like he was hashtag over it.

Seungkwan walked over and sat down on one of the chairs. “What's going on? Weren't club activities supposed to start next week?”

“Well, about that...” Jihoon started, “...I found out that music club has been canceled.”

Seungkwan's mouth dropped open. “What!? Why?”

Jihoon shrugged and folded his arms, “They gave me some bullshit reason about funding issues and how there wasn't a teacher available to supervise.” He scoffed thinking back at the one-sided conversation he'd had with the vice-principal, “As if we had any teacher bothering with the club last year.”

“But it doesn't make any sense! We use like zero school resources! This smells like homophobia! I'm not sure how, but this can't be a coincidence!”

Jihoon sighed. He had anticipated Seungkwan reacting in this way. “I'm pissed off too, but there's not much we can do, is there?”

“Can't we object to some sort of board or something? We can't just let this slide!”

Seokmin and Jihoon exchanged a look and Seokmin smiled with a hurt expression on his face, “Seungkwan...me and Jihoon have talked about it and we're not sure the effort is worth it. We'll both be pretty busy preparing for college this year anyway and-”

Seungkwan huffed. He couldn't believe his ears. “And what about the school rules that state we have to actively participate in at least one club? What are you two going to do about that? You practically live here.”

“I'm going to join the computer club.” Jihoon answered with a shrug.

“The _computer_ club?” Seungkwan said as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

“Yeah, it's actually useful and I can use that time to learn more music related programs and stuff.”

“Well, what about you, Seokmin?”

Seokmin cast his eyes down. “English club...” he mumbled.

Seungkwan scoffed, “You do realize that Jaehyun is alsoin that club and you'll actually have to talk to him?”

Seokmin nodded.

“I can't believe this...what about the band?”

“What about the band?” Jihoon replied, “Jisoo and Jeonghan aren't even here anymore. We can still get together every once in a while to play some stuff. I'm sure this room won't even be used most of the time. Not that much will change, really.” With that last sentence his expression softened. He knew that this had been more than just a music club. To all of them.

Seungkwan crossed his arms and slouched down in his chair, “It still pisses me off.”

Jihoon stood up and stretched his arms, “Yeah, me too. But we should be getting to class. I just wanted to tell you. See you at lunch later?”

{Classroom}

Seungkwan entered the classroom as one of the last students to arrive and he looked around for Mingyu and Hansol. Luckily they were in the same class again this year. He found them at the back of the class in the exact same seats as last year. Hansol all the way in the corner in the back with Mingyu occupying the seat in front of him. The desk next to Mingyu was still empty and waiting for Seungkwan. He walked over and put down his bag with a loud thud. He was not having a great start of the year. “Why are we sitting here again? I was only in the back last year because it was all that was available. Why can't we sit more in the front?”

“The teacher is at the front.” Hansol mumbled. He looked like he was done with this class before it had even started.

Seungkwan reluctantly sat down and kept his stare on his boyfriend, “And why don't you want to sit next to me?”

“I thought you liked sitting next to Mingyu?”

“Ugh, why is this school year already so sucky!” Seungkwan turned to face forward and slumped down in his seat.

“Is something else the matter? Why are you getting so upset?” Mingyu asked him.

“Well, let's see. First I'm informed that the music club can no longer exist because of vague reasons and neither Jihoon nor Seokmin are willing to do anything about it. And now my bo-” He stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, “...and now this.”

“If it's such a big deal me and Hansol can just switch.” Mingyu offered.

“Oh no! I am not going to be blamed for Hansol not being able to sleep through class because he's no longer behind your tall figure.”

Mingyu and Hansol looked at each other, both deciding not to argue with Seungkwan while he was like this.

Soon class started and Seungkwan was trying his best to not let his annoyance get in the way of him paying attention. Hansol, on the other hand, was not even attempting to listen to the teacher anymore. He was leaning to the side, his head resting on his left hand. The habit of staring at Seungkwan during class was still in full force, but this time, this time, he wasn't just staring at Seungkwan. He was staring at _his_ Seungkwan. It was a lot more satisfying staring at him now than it was when he was still just his unobtainable crush.

The booming voice of their math teacher forced him down to earth.“Mister Chwe!” he yelled from the front of the class, “Is there something written on the back of Mr.Boo's head that you'd like to tell the class about?”

He sat up straight, slightly embarrassed that he was caught staring, “No, sir. I was just...spacing out.”

The teacher sighed and continued his lecture.

When the bell rang Hansol was purposely slow at packing his stuff hoping Seungkwan would linger to wait for him. While he did wait for him he hadn't quite caught on to the fact that he wanted him to stay behind for a moment. Seungkwan was almost out the door when Hansol grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back inside.

Seungkwan let out a small yelp in surprise and he quickly checked the doorway to see if anyone had noticed. Hansol pushed the door closed.

“What are you doing?” Seungkwan asked him with furrowed eyebrows.

“I just wanted to say I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that music club isn't happening this year and I'm sorry about before. I didn't think the seating was such a big deal.”

Seungkwan bit his lip, a bit embarrassed by his behavior earlier. “It's okay.” he mumbled. “I suppose I do like sitting next to Mingyu and I know how important your beauty rest is.” He chuckled at his own joke, but the smile fell from his face when Hansol took a step closer.

“Do you want to know another reason why I like sitting one row behind you?”

“W-why?” Seungkwan replied, feeling the tension slowly rising.

“Because I can stare at you being all serious and taking notes.”

“Oh...well, just...be careful. The teacher already called you out on it.”

Hansol was so close that Seungkwan wondered what people would think if they opened the door right now. “You're blushing though.”

Seungkwan turned his head away, “I am not.”

Hansol used his fingers to turn Seungkwan's head back to face him, “You are though.”

Seungkwan, despite his flushed face, wasn't about to let Hansol be the only one flirting, “I thought you only wanted to make-out in the locker room? You didn't say anything about the classroom.”

Hansol smirked and took a step back. “Who said anything about making out? Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Seungkwan's blush only became a darker shade of red, “What- I wasn't- You-”

He couldn't say anything else. Not with Hansol's lips attached to his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan and Hansol: omg I'm so worried about showing too much of our relationship at school  
> Also them: Kissing in the classroom
> 
> So...no music club this year :o But...Seokmin in English club....with Jaehyun..tutututu
> 
> Next time: a new member appears!


	32. HS2-2 New Guy on the Roof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol and Jihoon feel the sting of Jeonghan's absence on the roof, but luckily find someone to fill the void with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people~ Let's go~~~
> 
> Let's try not to go crazy in these crazy times!

Jihoon and Hansol were sitting with their backs against the low stone wall surrounding the school roof. A place where they had sat many times before, but it felt different now. Jihoon took a joint out of his inner pocket, lid it up and took a drag. He handed it over to his friend and sighed. “Let's face it. It's kind of boring with just the two of us now. I don't know if it's because Jeonghan is missing or because I'd gotten used to you rambling on about your failing love life.”

Hansol chuckled. It was so obvious Jihoon missed having Jeonghan around, but was unwilling to admit it. “Maybe we can ask some of our friends to join us sometimes? I don't think Seungkwan likes it when I leave him for lunch to come here anyway. Especially not with the music club closed.”

Jihoon scoffed in response, “Don't you think that I would have asked them if I wanted any of them to join us? Can you imagine Seok or Kwan high? No, we need someone new. Just like me and Han got you to join us last year.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the door to the roof opened and a first year walked out. He looked like he still had a growth spurt coming and his hair was a bit messy with one little strand of hair popped up on the back of his head. He seemed a bit taken aback finding other people there, but he didn't let that stop him. He let the door fall shut behind him and stayed in his place.

“What do you want?” Jihoon barked at him. Despite his earlier statement of wanting to find a new member for their rooftop gang, he wasn't fond of new people nor very good at making friends.

The younger boy didn't move, but answered from where he stood. “To get away from all those people down there. I figured the roof would be a bit more relaxed.”

Jihoon and Hansol looked at each other. An understanding forming between them. “Hey kid, come over here. Sit down.” Hansol said as he beckoned him closer. The 'kid' did what he was told and chose to sit down across from them instead of against the wall like they were. It was quiet for a moment before he broke the silence.

“So...are you going to offer me some of what you're smoking or...?”

Hansol looked at him with an approving smirk. He held out his hand with the joint. “Be my guest. It's not your first time, is it?”

The boy inhaled and smoothly blew out the smoke, “Nah.” He passed it to Jihoon. “My name's Chan, by the way.”

“Jihoon.”

“Hansol.”

“Are you guys up here a lot?”

“Occasionally.” Jihoon replied. He was still deciding whether or not this new kid could become a permanent addition. “Tell me, Chan. If I were to tell you that I'm into tall dudes preferably with abs and well-toned calves, what would you say?”

Hansol gaped at Jihoon for a moment, but moved his gaze to the other boy to catch his reaction. He didn't seem very impressed and shrugged, “Eh, good for you I guess? I'm not very tall nor am I gay, so I can't really help you in that department, but if you asked me this to see if I'm a homophobe or something you can chill out.”

Jihoon chuckled, “Hansol, I kind of like him. Let's keep him.”

{After school}

“Did you read the group chat yet? Jisoo finally found out who his roommate is after not seeing him for days. Apparently they had already met in the restroom without knowing they were roommates and he sounds a bit like a crazy person, but Jisoo says he seems nice and is really funny.”

“Oh yeah?” Hansol _had_ actually read the chat already, but he liked listening to Seungkwan tell the story more. They were slowly walking next to each other, Hansol with his bike in one hand. Despite the fact that Seungkwan now had a perfectly functioning bicycle, he still took the bus from and to school most days. He didn't like navigating through the traffic when he was still half asleep in the morning and on the bus he could do important stuff with his phone (like getting updates from Jeonghan and Jisoo about their new college lives). So now Hansol was walking him to the bus stop. There was a bus stop right across from the school, but seeing as that would give them close to zero time together, they had decided to walk to the next one over.

Seungkwan nodded, “Yeah. Jeonghan seems to be getting along with his roommate too. I just hope that Jisoo is okay with the way he keeps gushing over him...He's met the guy, what, a week ago? And already they seem to be doing everything together.”

“I'm sure they're fine. Jeonghan is just excited he got a roommate that he gets along with. You know he was worried about getting stuck with some homophobic asshole or something.”

“I guess so....I mean, I'm happy if they're happy, but I just don't want to see them break-up or something. What if-”

“Baby...” Hansol cut him off, “...you worry too much about other people's relationships.”

Seungkwan huffed, slightly caught off guard by the endearing nickname his boyfriend had chosen to use, “Are you saying I should be worried about my own relationship?”

“N-no. I just meant that-”

At that moment someone passed them on their skateboard, “Hey, Hansol. What's up?” the boy said as he halted and stepped off his skateboard, flipping it up with his foot so he could hold it in one hand.

“Oh, hey Chan. Are you on your way home?”

“Yeah.”

Hansol could feel Seungkwan staring between him and his new friend with narrowed eyes, not knowing who this boy was. “Oh, eh, this is Seungkwan by the way. Seungkwan, Chan. We met on the roof today.” he introduced the two.

“Oh, are you a first-year too?” Chan asked.

Seungkwan let out a small puff of offended air, “I'm obviously older than you, skaterboy.”

Chan stared back, not at all impressed by Seungkwan's attitude. “Obviously. Anyway, it was nice to meet you or whatever. I'll see you guys around.” He put his board back on the ground and with a final wave of his hand rode away.

“Who was that?” Seungkwan wanted to know.

“Chan. I forgot to tell you. Me and Jihoon met him on the roof earlier and we've sort of invited him to hang with us sometimes.”

“Why?” Seungkwan realized he sounded very offensive, near possessive about who his boyfriend was hanging out with, so he decided to rephrase his inquiry, “I mean, how did that happen?”

Hansol shrugged, “He just showed up when we were there and he seemed chill. It's good because Jihoon was feeling lonely.”

Seungkwan snorted, “Well, I'm glad you found him a new friend then. Or, you know, you could just hang out with me and the others. What's so great about the roof anyway.”

“I won't go there during lunch too much, okay? But it's not like you're going to want to skip class or spend your free period getting hi-” he cut himself off, suddenly realizing that he wasn't sure if Seungkwan was even aware of what they did up there.

“You shouldn't skip class either.” he mumbled.

“You're cute when you pout.”

Seungkwan looked up at Hansol with big eyes. He hadn't been expecting the sudden compliment and if it was just a tactic to change the subject, it worked. “Will you look at that, we're at the bus stop!” Seungkwan exclaimed, now changing the subject himself.

“So we are. You'd better hurry. I see your bus coming.” Hansol said, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Seungkwan hurried away and onto the bus. He sat down on a seat by the window so he could stare at Hansol while driving away. But instead of getting stared back at, Hansol was typing something on his phone. Seungkwan felt his own phone buzz and checked his text.

_U r cute when u get shy because I called u cute_

Seungkwan sighed and let his hand holding his phone slump down on his lap. He couldn't tell if he loved or hated the way Hansol was quickly becoming a master at pushing all the right buttons to turn him into a blushing idiot. He leaned his head on his hand and stared out the window with a smile on his face. He probably loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -First of all, I'm not going to build the tension surrounding who Jisoo's roommate is, because he really doesn't have any big part, lol. It's Sungjae from BtoB. For those of you who don't know him: he's really funny and yes, a bit crazy (because...BtoB. They crazy) and he has a group of 'toilet friends', idols he met in the restroom and then became friends with (if I remember correctly BTS's Taehyung is also one of those friends #themoreyouknow ) and he's a 95-liner.  
> -uuggh I KNOW that stoner Hansol is SUCH a fic stereotype, but...well...it sort of happened anyway (but they honestly don't do it that much and mostly they just hang, so he's not really a stoner)  
> -Look, I can't help it. Whenever I write Chan he just turns into a sassy little man ( I absolutely CANNOT write him as the baby of the group like I see in some fics..It's totally fine to write him however you want, but it just won't come out of me LOL.) But, eh...he's also way too young to smoke...he needs a better influence in his life
> 
> As for Jeonghan's roommate...I haven't written his name in the story yet, but I think it's pretty clear right? Can only be one other 95-liner 
> 
> <3 
> 
> Next time will either be English club (aka Seokmin face-to-face with his crush) OR Basketball club where some things happen involving a few basketball club members


	33. HS2-3 Green Tea Latte or something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the first English Club meeting of the year, but everybody seems to be more interested in what Seokmin and Jaehyun are up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like at the beginning of the fic. the first few chapters of this new school year are really about setting some things up. First club meeting of this, first meeting of that. I hope anyone is actually interested in Seokmin and his crush, lol.
> 
> Stay safe and healthy!

Seungkwan had considered not re-joining the English club. Jisoo was no longer there, he could get help from Hansol whenever he wanted and balancing three clubs last year had been quite a task. But between the music club getting dragged out from under him and Mingyu telling him not to leave him alone at English, he, along with Hansol, had decided to continue his involvement in the club. Now that he was approaching the room for their first session of the year and saw Seokmin hanging around the door nervously, he was glad that he had. Since Jisoo graduated Jaehyun had become president and Seungkwan couldn't wait to see how Seokmin was going to handle being in the same room with him for more than five minutes.

“Why didn't you just go in? You could have saved us a table.” He said to him.

“I...I was just waiting for you guys.”

“Afraid Jaehyun is in there?” Mingyu asked. He was no stranger to building up the courage to talk to ones crush.

Seokmin nodded, “He's the president, I'm sure he's already in there...Maybe I shouldn't have joined after all...”

“Nonsense. Come on.” Seungkwan pushed the door open and they went inside. Seokmin scurried behind him as they found some empty seats. Jaehyun stood in front of the class and said a quick welcome to new members and a welcome back to those who had been there last year. He had planned some speaking exercises that required them to work in pairs.

“It seems like we have an uneven number, but that's okay. Why don't you three...” he said as he vaguely gestured in the direction of Seungkwan, Mingyu, and Hansol, “...work together and, eh, Seokmin, do you want to be my partner?”

It took a kick under the table from Seungkwan before Seokmin found his tongue, “S-sure. My English is really bad though!”

“Oh yeah?” Jaehyun asked as he pulled up a chair and sat across from him. “I'll be glad to help you with it. How about we go get some coffee after school?”

“I-I don't really drink coffee.”

Another kick from Seungkwan.

“B-but I drink other things! Like, eh, green tea latte or something.”

“Great.” Jaehyun replied with a smile. “So, eh, I'm still getting used to being the club president and all, but I guess I should walk around to see if anyone needs any help. How about you pair up with one of those guys...” he nodded in the direction of the other three who quickly looked away to try and make it seem like they hadn't been watching their exchange intensely, “...and I'll see you after school?”

Seokmin nodded, still somewhat in a daze. As soon as Jaehyun was on the other side of the room Seungkwan excitedly grabbed Seokmin's arm, “Dude, he just asked you out!”

“On a date!” Mingyu added, trying his best to keep his voice down and mask his glee from the other people in the room.

“He did? It's just for studying, right?” Seokmin bit his lip. Of course he wanted it to be a date, but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

Seungkwan shook his head, “He was totally flirting with you! I'm telling you it's a date.”

“Hansol? What do you think?” Seokmin asked his other friend. Seungkwan and Mingyu were clearly already convinced it was going to be a date, but what did they know anyway? Seungkwan hadn't even noticed Hansol being in love with him for months.

Hansol hummed thoughtfully, “I think it's definitely a possibility that he meant it as a date type of thing.”

Seokmin glanced over at his crush who was now talking to one of the other students. He could hear his phone buzz from his bag and he took it out to check. He let out a soft groan. “How do I already have a message from Jeonghan about this?”

Seungkwan looked up innocently from his own phone, “Eh...”

{After school}

The bell rang and both Seungkwan and Mingyu were quick to clear their desks. “Come on, Hansol. We have to hurry!”

“What for?”

“Seokmin and Jaehyun!” they answered simultaneously.

Hansol stared at them, clearly not getting what Seokmin and Jaehyun had to do with anyting.

Seungkwan sighed impatiently, “If we don't hurry they'll have already left and we won't know where they're going.”

“Why do you have to know where they're going?”

Mingyu and Seungkwan looked at each other in a way that said they couldn't believe how Hansol wasn't getting the vitality of following Seokmin and Jaehyun on their supposed date to see how it was going to play out.

“Look, are you coming or not?” Seungkwan asked him with little patience in his voice.

“I think not, but you guys go on ahead.” Hansol really didn't feel like following two people around on their first date and, maybe even more than that, he felt like this was a thing for Seungkwan and his best friend together. He was working on completely letting go of the thought of those two being anything more than friends. Backing off to let them have their 'bestie' time every once in a while was part of that.

“Fine. I'll text you later. Come on, Mingyu!”

They all but ran out the classroom and almost ran straight into Wonwoo who was right outside.

“Oh, hey!” Mingyu said a bit too loudly, “Were you waiting for me?”

“Eh, yeah. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out today.”

“I thought you had book club?”

“Actually, some of the members told me they haven't finished the book that we were supposed to discuss today so I've decided to postpone. So...”

“Oh, eh...me and Seungkwan are going to stalk, I mean, check on Seokmin. Jaehyun asked him out and we think it's a date.”

“So? What are you two going to do?”

“Excuse me, Wonwoo, but Mingyu we have to go. You can come too, Won, but we'll miss them at this rate.”

“I think I'm going to pass.” He said and chuckled as the two of them starting to hurriedly make their way through the sea of students crowding the hallway.

“You decided to not go with them, too?” Hansol asked as he appeared next to him.

“Yeah. I think this is something best done by the two of them. They'll probably just end up bickering about something anyway.”

Hansol laughed, “Yeah.”

“Do you want to hang out?” Wonwoo asked suddenly. He and Hansol hadn't really spent all that much time together, but their boyfriends were best friends so it wasn't a bad idea to get to know each other better. Hansol seemed to be thinking the same thing and he nodded.

“Sure.”

{Outside a small coffee shop}

Seungkwan and Mingyu had been able to successfully follow Seokmin and Jaehyun as they made their way over to a little coffee place (that also had green tea lattes) near the school. They didn't follow them inside, however. Instead they had decided it was safer to stay outside and occasionally peek inside through the window. Seungkwan was doing just that when he got startled by a voice whispering in his ear. “See anything good?”

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” he said, heart pounding because of the sudden presence.

Jeonghan calmly sipped on his take-out Dirty Chai Latte. “My gay senses were tingling.” He laughed at their confused faces, “That and Minnie messaged me saying he was freaking out about this coffee thing because you two had told him it was a date.”

“Don't you think it's a date?” Mingyu asked as he dared to take another look.

“Oh, no, it's definitely a date.” Jeonghan leaned in close and joined the observation. “Just look at the way Jaehyun is sitting. There's no need for him to be _that_ close and he's touching his arm every so often. That doesn't say no-homo to me.”

Just then Seokmin must have said something funny because Jaehyun laughed loudly and leaned in closer.

In his excitement Mingyu grabbed Jeonghan's arm, “Oh my god, did you see that!”

“Mingyu, have I ever told you what a nice smile you have?” Jeonghan said with his silky smooth voice.

In response Mingyu looked at him with narrowed eyes, “I have a boyfriend. So do you.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes, “Ah yes, by giving you a simple compliment I'm practically licking you. Will you relax? I just meant that it's nice that we get to see it so often now. Who would have thought that the dark emo mess you were a year ago would evolve into a cheerful young man on a gay stakeout with two of his most amazing friends.”

“Yeah, I guess a lot has changed over the last year.”

“It sure has. You are shining bright and all of us are finding love left and right. It's truly a-”

“That's great you guys...”Seungkwan interrupted, “...really touching, but our targets just got up and are making their way to the exit.”

“Oh shit!”

All three of them scrambled over each other to hide behind the corner before they'd be seen by either Seokmin or Jaehyun who were now coming out. Their curiosity was more urgently felt than the fear of discovery, however, and all three of them took a gander.

“Look how close they're walking.” Seungkwan whispered.

“And doesn't Seok seem a bit more relaxed?” Mingyu added.

“Should we follow them?” Seungkwan wondered out loud.

“How about...” Jeonghan said as he wrapped an arm around each one of their shoulders, “...we leave them to it and us three go inside and converse.”

Seungkwan looked it him with a raised eyebrow, “ _Converse_? Just because you're in college now doesn't mean you have to try to sound smarter than you really are.”

“Come on, it'll be my treat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jeonghan just misses his babies T__T (he's been away at college for what...a week or two? lol)  
> -If you don't know, a Dirty Chai Latte is basically a Chai tea latte with a shot of espresso and it's awesome  
> -Jaehyun isn't as blind as Seungkwan. He knows Seokmin likes him and well...he's interested
> 
> Next time it's basketball time and there is one guy who really seems to have a thing against Seungkwan and there is another guy who really seems to have a thing for Seungkwan.
> 
> p.s. Hahaha remember how Seungkwan and Mingyu used to make-out and Hansol doesn't know about that? Imagine if that ever gets brought up haha


	34. HS2-4 Locker room talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new basketball team captain has it out for Seungkwan. Some support comes from an unexpected source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing okay! I started a 2000 piece puzzle and I think I dropped a piece, but I can't for the life of me find it anywhere, haha fml. Anyway, enjoy a bit of drama

Seungkwan and Hansol were hanging around the school gymnasium, waiting for their new captain to start the first session of the new year. Johnny, their previous captain, had graduated and the seniors had decided amongst themselves on who would replace him. Much to Seungkwan's dismay, they had decided on Taesung. From day one this guy had a problem with Seungkwan joining the basketball team and he hadn't made much effort to hide the fact that he didn't like him since then.

“Why couldn't they have gone with Jaehyun...he's a senior, too.” Seungkwan mumbled.

“He's probably too busy. At least he's co-captain. I know you don't like Taesung, but let's give him a chance.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “It's not me who has the problem.” He looked over at Taesung and Jaehyun who were discussing something. Taesung looked like he had used his summer vacation to bulk up and his face had gotten more obnoxious (in Seungkwan's totally unbiased opinion). He didn't know what to make of Jaehyun these days. After his little coffee date with Seokmin he had asked Seokmin to go out again some time soon, but at school he hardly seemed different. He greeted them in the hallway, sure, but he had always done that. Nothing about his behavior indicated that he was dating one of their best friends or that he had any intention to get closer to them as friends. But that was probably the point. After all, he and Hansol were hiding their relationship too.

Seungkwan was lost in thought when Hyunggu approached them with a big smile on his face. “Hey guys. I'm glad you decided to stay with the team this year.” His eyes were mostly focused on Seungkwan when he said it. “You know, I was sort of hoping that I'd get lucky with what class I'd end up in this year, but no luck.”

“What do you mean?” Seungkwan asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

“You know how they always change the classes up a bit? I was hoping I'd end up in the same class as you.”

“Oh.” Seungkwan said. He wasn't sure what else to say. It seemed like Hyunggu was only talking to him and it made him awkward getting singled out with Hansol right there.

Hyunggu seemed to get how what he said sounded a bit rude and quickly added, “I mean, with the both of you. Yeah, I mean, I think it would have been fun.”

“Eh, yeah. Totally.” Seungkwan let out an awkward chuckle. He honestly didn't know Hyunggu that well and besides being a friendly face on the team, he didn't consider him to be much of anything to him.

“Anyway, I'm glad I'll still be able to see you here. Even if Taesung is our new captain.” he added in a low voice.

“Yes!” Seungkwan agreed with a sense of acknowledgment. “Hansol said we should just give him a chance, but I swear this guy has it out for me!”

As if he was sensing something, Taesung called out that he was going to start and to gather around.

“First things first, I know you guys all loved Johnny, but frankly, if he had trained us better last year we wouldn't have lost that tournament. I'm going to be tougher, stricter, and I have no need for a bunch of whiny little bitches, so I don't want to hear any complaints.”

Seungkwan was unable to suppress an eye roll at his little display. Unfortunately it was caught by Taesung. He didn't say anything, but Seungkwan could tell from the look he gave him that he already fucked up.

“We'll be holding try outs for new members next week. Before that, let's see how lazy you've all become over the summer. Start running, ladies.”

<>

The entire training Taesung had made it his mission to call out Seungkwan for any and every little thing. _Pick up the pace, Seungkwan. Focus, Seungkwan. You do know we're playing basketball, right?_ _Would it kill you to actually get the ball through the hoop?_

“Okay, guys, that's it for today. Hit the showers.”

Seungkwan let out a sigh of relief. Finally. He hoped the whole year wasn't going to be like this.

“Except for you, Seungkwan. You were clearly the weakest today, so you're going to run a few more extra laps.”

“Come on, Tae, it's just the first training of the year. Cut him some slack.” Jaehyun said.

Seungkwan would have appreciated it more if he said that there was no reason to single him out because he hadn't actually done any worse than the others, but at least he said something. As co-captain he should have some input on how things were run, right?

“That attitude is exactly what's wrong with this team. Didn't I say I didn't want any complaints? Seungkwan, get going. What are the rest of you still doing here? I told you to hit the showers!”

Seungkwan gave Hansol a look that said 'I _told you this guy has it out for me_ '.

“I'll run with you.” Hansol offered, but Seungkwan shook his head.

“No. Go shower. I'll see you after, okay?”

{locker room}

Hansol made sure to take his sweet time taking a shower, so that most of the others would be gone by the time Seungkwan was done. When he got out of the shower only Hyunggu was still around.

“You showered so long, even Taesung has already come and gone. You just missed him. I guess Seungkwan will be here soon.” Hyunggu said. Hansol nodded. He wasn't sure why Hyunggu was still there. Last year they had on occasion hung out together during lunch before Hansol got close with Seungkwan, but that was about the extent of their relationship.

Just as he said it the door opened and Seungkwan came in. He sat down on one of the benches and let out a loud frustrated breath of air. “Is Taesung gone yet?” he asked no-one in particular.

“Yeah.” Hyunggu answered before Hansol could and he sat down next to him.

“Good.” He had made sure to linger for a bit to make sure he didn't have to deal with him in the locker-room too. Seungkwan leaned down and started untying his shoes. “Hansol, I'll shower real quick, okay?”

“Take your time.” Hansol replied. He wanted Seungkwan to take his time, enough time for Hyunggu to leave so they'd be by themselves.

Seungkwan looked up at him and nodded. He was about to get up and get undressed when Hyunggu opened his mouth.

“Seungkwan? For what it's worth, I think Taesung was just being an ass. You weren't even the worst one out there today. Not at all. I think you did great.” He lightly placed a hand on Seungkwan's leg, the part _not_ covered by his shorts. The skin was still damp with sweat and the gesture seemed out of place for someone just trying to cheer up a teammate. Seungkwan was caught of guard by the sudden contact and didn't know how to respond. He was most likely reading too much into it. He was doing it right in front of Hansol, after all. If Hyunggu had meant anything with this move, he wouldn't have done that, right? Even if he didn't know they were dating.

“Eh, thanks.” he answered simply.

They were both startled by the loud bang of Hansol slamming his locker shut. “I'll wait outside. Don't take too long.” he said directed at his boyfriend and walked out.

“What's his problem?” Hyunggu asked as he stood up and stretched his back.

“He, eh...has a stomachache. Anyway, I'd better get changed,”

“Yeah. See you.” Hyunggu swung his bag over his shoulder and followed Hansol out.

{Hallway}

Hansol was leaning against the wall just outside the locker-rooms. He had wanted to see if Seungkwan was up for that making-out in the jock space thing they had talked about, but he didn't feel like it anymore. When Hyunggu walked out he did his best to ignore him, hoping he would just go away. Hyunggu didn't seem to get the hint.

“Hey Hansol, can I ask you something?” he asked standing in front of him.

“Sure.” Hansol shrugged trying to have an air of casualness around him.

“You're friends with Seungkwan, right?”

Hansol looked him over for a second. What a stupid question. Wasn't it extremely obvious that he and Seungkwan were friends. “Yes. Why?”

“Do you know what he's....into?”

“What do you mean? Like his favorite ice cream or something?”

Hyunggu chuckled, “More like does he like guys?”

Hansol couldn't believe what he was being asked right now. Nor did he know how to respond. Was Hyunggu asking this because he was interested in Seungkwan or because he just wanted to know? Or because he was an asshole in disguise who didn't want to be friends with a gay person?

Hyunggu saw the way Hansol hesitated to answer. “I'm just asking because I don't really want to make a move if he's not gay or bi or something.”

As much as Hansol hated to idea of having this guy interested in _his_ boyfriend, he had to give him credit for displaying some serious big dick energy by just casually dropping that he's interested in another boy. He should probably say that it wasn't his place to tell him if Seungkwan was straight or gay or whatever. Even saying that he didn't know would have been better than what he was about to say.

“Oh, eh...he's straight.”

It just slipped out. He wished he could say he said it because he didn't want to out Seungkwan without his permission or because he thought that was what Seungkwan would want him to say since they're hiding their relationship anyway. But that wasn't true. He said it because he didn't want some other boy to think he had a chance.

“Oh...” Hyunggu sounded disappointed, “Really? Shit. I guess my gaydar is pretty busted, huh? Well, I guess I'm better off knowing now, but I have to admit I wasn't really expecting that.”

“So why did you even ask then?” Hansol snapped.

“Oh, ehm, I guess I just wanted to confirm he was gay and then ask you, since you're his friend and all, if you had any tips for me to get onto his good side. Anyway...thanks for saving me from embarrassing myself.”

Hansol gave him a small nod to say _you're welcome_ , even if he had just lied through his teeth for his own selfish reasons.

Hyunggu was about to leave, but took a step back, “Oh and if you could not broadcast to the entire school that I'm gay that'd be great. I just talked to you because I think you're a nice guy.”

“Right. Sure, don't worry.”

<>

Not long after, Seungkwan walked out of the locker-room. Hair still damp from the shower. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Hansol just nodded.

Seungkwan looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and a slight pout, “Are you okay? I mean, what was that earlier?”

“What was what?”

“The way you angrily slammed your locker? I'd think you'd be a bit more supportive after the way Taesung singled me out for no good reason.”

“You were already given plenty of ' _support_ ' from Hyunggu.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“The way he was caressing your thigh!”

“Are you kidding? He wasn't ' _caressing_ my _thigh_ _'_. You're blowing it way out of proportion! Is no guy allowed to touch me ever?” Seungkwan totally understood how it could have looked. He had thought it was a bit strange for a second himself. But Hansol was being ridiculous. It certainly wasn't anything to get upset over.

“Not the way he was...” Hansol mumbled. He was starting to doubt himself. Maybe he was making a bigger deal out of the physical contact than it was. But after his little talk with Hyunggu, he couldn't help but think that his leg touching hadn't been completely innocent. Rationally he knew of course that it wasn't Seungkwan's fault. Or even Hyunggu's for that matter. But not letting his imagination run wild wasn't exactly his forte.

Seungkwan was staring at him with a scowl and Hansol reached out to touch his arm. “I'm sorry. You're right. I'm overreacting. And Taesung was picking on you. Next time I'll call him out on it, okay?”

“Thank you. But that's okay. I don't need you to do that. As much as I secretly love the idea of you standing up for me and maybe even punch him in the face or something, on principle I'm totally against it. I'll fight my own battles. He thinks I'm weak, but if he thinks that he can bully me into quitting the club he's got another thing coming. In fact, even if I might want to leave the club for totally unrelated reasons I won't. Just out of spite. All I need from you is a little support behind the scenes.”

Hansol chuckled. He loved it whenever Seungkwan showed his feisty side. “I'll be there if you need me.”

Seungkwan smiled at him. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I HATE it when coaches or whoever call people 'ladies' or 'girls' as a way to put them down, but Taesung is just  
> that type of douchebag  
> -Seungkwan: 'hmm he's touching my leg, that's kinda weird...' Hansol: 'wtf why was he touching your leg?' Seungkwan: "It was nothing, chill"  
> -What do you think Hansol should have said to Hyunggu?


	35. HS2-5 The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol asks Seungkwan if he wants to meet his parents. Seungkwan has a 'talk' with his mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ I have a bit of vacation now, but obviously I won't be able to go anywhere so hopefully I'll get some writing in! At least the upcoming 2 chapter will be done quickly (since they're almost done already anyway)

The weather was still quite warm for the time of year and Seungkwan and Hansol had decided to do their homework outside together. They had taken a bit of a ride on Hansol's bike and were now sitting under a large tree in a park on the outskirts of town. They had their books out and were making an attempt to study. Seungkwan more successfully than Hansol.

“This is nice.” Hansol said looking up from his math book.

“Hm?” Seungkwan replied with a questioning hum without taking his eyes off his papers.

“This. Us sitting here, together. It would be better without all this homework, but still. It's nice.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it is. Let's enjoy it while we can, the weather won't be this nice forever.”

“Oh that reminds me! Or I just remembered...anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”

Seungkwan put his pen down and looked at him. “Oh?”

“Do you want to come over to my house for dinner some time soon? I told my parents that I have a boyfriend yesterday and they said they'd like to meet you.”

“Oh, eh, sure. I mean, of course!”

They hadn't really discussed telling their parents, let alone meeting each others parents. It only made sense that they would, but Seungkwan still hadn't told his family. Not even his mother. He couldn't really imagine her reacting badly to it, but he hadn't gotten around to it. Or maybe he had just been avoiding it. He knew that as soon as he'd tell her she's want to meet him and perhaps he had just needed a little bit of time to get used to the idea of having a boyfriend first. In a way he was glad that Hansol had told his parents first.

“How about this weekend?”

“Okay. Best to get it over with I guess.”

Hansol chuckled. “Don't say it like that. My parents are really nice, you know.”

“They must be if they are capable of creating someone as amazing as you.”

“Boo Seungkwan, are you flirting with me?”

“Is it working?”

Hansol shook his head and smiled, “Of course it's working. You can say anything to me and it would probably work.”

Seungkwan quickly scanned the area for people. There were a few kids playing on the playground in the distance and an old man waking his dog. He leaned in and placed a soft, somewhat clumsy, hurried kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

“So, ehm, since I'll be meeting your family, do you want to meet my mom?”

“Sure. Maybe also this weekend? To ' _get it over with_ _'_ , as you put it.”

Seungkwan bit his lip and nodded, “I'll ask her.” There was also something Seungkwan wanted to ask Hansol. Something he had been curious about for some time. “Hansol? You never told me, but...when did you come out to your family? Did it go well?” It couldn't have been too bad if they wanted to meet their son's boyfriend.

Hansol leaned back on his hands and cocked his head to the side, “Oh, I never really came out, I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just never felt like I had to.”

“You mean you think they already knew?”

“No. I just...I guess I just don't like the idea of putting a label on myself and so I never really knew what to tell them anyway. I didn't think they'd have a problem with it either way.”

“So, what? You just told them you suddenly have a boyfriend and that was it?”

“Pretty much.” Hansol replied and he studied the look on Seungkwan's face. It was that look that he got when he was trying to figure something out or when he was confused. “I know you might not get it, but this worked for me. The only label I need right now is being your boyfriend. Isn't that enough?”

Seungkwan smiled. Hansol was right, he didn't really get it. He had gone through a lot of internal struggling and working up the courage to come out to people. But he supposed that, at the end of the day, it didn't really matter. Everybody did things their own way. “If it's enough for you, then it's more than enough for me.” he said with a smile. “Okay so it's settled. We're going to meet each other's parents? Just so I know what I'm getting myself into, you haven't told your parents anything weird about me, have you?”

“Like what?”

Seungkwan shrugged, “I don't know.”

“Don't worry. I'm sure they'll like you. What about me? Anything I should prepare myself for?”

“Not really. I haven't told my mom anything really...I should probably tell her I have a boyfriend first.”

Hansol chuckled, “Yeah, probably.”

{Seungkwan's house}

When he got home Seungkwan found his mother in the kitchen preparing dinner. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. Instead of going to his room until it was time to eat, like he normally would have, he lingered. “Mom?”

“Yes, honey?”

“You're free this weekend, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“Well..I was just wondering if it would maybe be okay if I invited someone over for dinner?”

“Of course it is. You know that.” She chuckled, but she noticed her son seemed to bit nervous or uneasy to ask. “Who do you want to invite?”

“One of my friends. No, ehm, Hansol.”

“So is Hansol not a friend? You've mentioned him before.”

“He was, he, eh, he is, but...now he's also my boy...friend.”

His mother rinsed her hands and dried them off. She turned to her son and smiled at him, “Well, I'm looking forward to finally meeting him.”

Seungkwan furrowed his brows together in confusion at that response, “What do you mean finally?”

“Haven't you been dating him since the summer?”

“What!? How do you know that? Was it Mingyu? Did he tell you?”

“I don't need Mingyu to figure out what my son is up to. You should see the look in your eyes whenever you mention him. Remember you showed me pictures from your sleepover? The way you talk about him. ' _I have to call Hansol. Look at this picture Hansol sent me. I'm meeting Hansol. Again.'_ Really, Seungkwan, it wasn't that hard to figure out.”

“Oh...”

His mother giggled looking at his pouty face. “It's not a bad thing, honey. Although I would have liked to know sooner.”

“I...I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It's just that he's my first boyfriend and I wasn't sure...”

He felt his mother's hand sweetly rubbing his arm in comfort, “Well, I'm glad you told me now. And now that it's all out in the open let's sit for a minute.”

“Eh, okay.” Seungkwan mumbled, not sure what his mother wanted to talk about.

They sat down at the table across from each other. His mother looked at him in a way that made Seungkwan feel like he wasn't going to like whatever this walk was going to be about.

“I probably should have done this sooner instead of just leaving you those condoms, but now that you really have a boyfriend I guess-”

Yes, he was right. He wasn't liking this conversation already. “Mom! Please! Don't! I'm good!” Seungkwan yelled out, mortified by the sudden mention of condoms. He had never asked her about them and hoped he'd never have to talk about anything to do with sex with her.

“Seungkwan, this is important. I don't want you to-”

“Mom, really! I know all about STDs and how to prevent them and no-one is getting pregnant in this equation either, so.”

“I know you know that stuff, honey. I just wanted to talk to you about a few other important things. I know this is uncomfortable, but I really need you to hear me out.”

Seungkwan didn't object further, but he also refused to look directly at her.

“Sex isn't just about physically being with someone, it's also about emotionally being with someone. You can be very vulnerable when you get that close to another person and I want you to know that it's very important to wait until you are ready. Of course if it were up to me you would wait until you were thirty or something, but I know that's probably not going to happen. So I want you to know that it's okay to have boundaries and to say no when your partner wants to try something you're not comfortable with.”

“Hansol isn't like that, mom.” Seungkwan mumbled. “He would never make me do something I don't want to do.”

“I'm sure he's a nice boy, but I also don't want you to do something you don't want to do just because you think that's what _he_ might want. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

He nodded.

“And it goes both ways. You have to respect Hansol's boundaries too. Okay?”

Again he nodded.

“I'm sorry for not talking to you about these things sooner, but I'm glad we had this little talk now. If you have any questions, any at all, please come to me, okay?”

“Thanks...I guess. But can you please, please, not talk about any of this stuff when Hansol comes over?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Seungkwan has discussed s-e-x with his mom, he might want to talk with Hansol about it, too. But before that something happens at lunch involving Mingyu.
> 
> (Is it weird they haven't met each other's parents yet??? Anyway, it didn't fit into the story before this time...during the summer they were outside a lot...I dunno. I also didn't want them to start talking about sex right after getting together.)


	36. HS2-6 Everybody does that...right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people in the group start to question Jaehyun's intentions with Seokmin. Hansol learns something about what went on between Mingyu and Seungkwan and he's not happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a little bit longer than I thought to finish this one, but mainly because I decided I needed to include a bit of Chan and Seokmin as to not completely forget about the side characters, lol.

Seungkwan slowly chewed his food while observing Seokmin talking to Jaehyun by the entrance of the cafeteria. “What do you think they're talking about?” he asked the others at the table. Although he and Mingyu seemed the only ones even interested.

“Maybe making weekend plans?” Chan suggested. After getting friendly with Hansol and Jihoon up on the roof, Seungkwan had told Hansol to ask him to join them for lunch. He had been hanging out with them ever since. Seungkwan worried a bit that this kid was only making friends with upperclassmen instead of people in his own year, but he was Hansol's friend and Seungkwan kind of liked having him around anyway. They didn't always see eye-to-eye, but he brought a different, new, flavor to the group.

Seokmin and Jaehyun parted ways halfway down the cafeteria and he sat down at their table.

“Why doesn't he ever sit with us?” Seungkwan asked.

“Oh, eh, he, _we_ , just think it might be a bit obvious if he suddenly starts hanging out with me too much. We're just keeping our relationship out of school. Mostly.”

“Does this mean he's your boyfriend now? Haven't you guys been on like a bunch of dates?” Jihoon mixed himself into the conversation. He himself didn't care much about what label a relationship had, but he knew Seokmin and he knew he was a romantic at heart. He wasn't looking for a casual type of thing. No, he wanted a boyfriend.

“Well, ehm, not exactly...” Seokmin answered, avoiding direct eye-contact. “Not yet. I mean...he hasn't asked or anything.”

“What an asshole.”

Everybody looked at Chan in surprise. He was still new to the group, but he wasn't afraid to give his opinion without mincing his words.

“Well, I'm sorry, but it all sounds a bit as if he wants to get all the benefits of dating Seokmin, without having to be his boyfriend.”

“It's not such a big deal...” Seokmin mumbled back. “There isn't much of a difference anyway, right?”

“The way I see it is that if you're someone's boyfriend you need to do boyfriend things, like...birthdays, hanging out with each other's friends, being there for the other person when they're feeling bad. Now he gets to do fun stuff like going on dates and making out, without any responsibilities.”

“I didn't know you were such a relationship expert.” Seungkwan said with a snort. “Look, Min. If you're fine with the situation as is then that's fine, but if you're not then maybe you shouldn't let it continue like this.”

Seokmin nodded. “I don't think he's doing what you said, Chan. I think...I think he does like me. He just wants us to get to know each other better first, I think. Anyway...can we talk about something else now? What's everybody doing this weekend?”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Hansol spoke up, directed at Seungkwan, “I keep forgetting to ask you. Do I need to bring anything tomorrow? Like an extra pillow or something?”

“No, just bring yourself and a toothbrush. And maybe a change of clothes for the next day.” Seungkwan answered.

“Are you guys going camping or something?” Wonwoo asked.

“No, he's going to meet Seungkwan's mom for the first time.” Mingyu answered before either one of the people actually involved could. “Don't worry. Seungkwan's mom is super nice.”

Hansol hadn't been all that nervous before, but somehow hearing Mingyu reassure him what a nice person his boyfriend's mother was made him worried she wasn't going to like him.

“But why would he need a toothbrush for that?” Seokmin wanted to know.

“I'm going over to his house on Sunday to meet his family too. We figured it was just as easy if he stayed over and we'd go there together.” Seungkwan explained.

“Oh.” Seokmin nodded in understanding but his face was scrunched up in thought, “So...he's going to be staying the night?”

It took a moment for the other people at the table to get what Seokmin was thinking and Seokmin himself looked like he regretted thinking out loud in the first place. “I-I just mean that's new, eh, nice. I didn't mean to imply that it means you two will have...sleeping...ehm.”

“Well, at least we know Seungkwan has condoms.” Jihoon snorted.

Seungkwan almost choked on this lunch and Hansol's eyes grew wide, “Dude!” It was sort of an unwritten rule that what was said on the rooftop stayed on the rooftop. Kind of like Vegas.

“H-how do you know about that!” Seungkwan squeezed out between coughs.

Jihoon simply shrugged, “Hansol told me when he was crying to me and Jeonghan about all the sex he thought you and Mingyu were having.” It was in moments like this that he really missed having Jeonghan around. He was better in these kinds of situations and had the strange ability to make inappropriate comments without anyone really caring. But somehow when Jihoon did it he managed to let the whole thing blow up to a bigger deal than it probaly really was.

Breaking the awkward silence was Wonwoo. “You two...” he spoke slowly as his eyes went between Mingyu and Seungkwan, “...had sex?”

“NO!” both of them yelled out at the same time.

Seungkwan waved his hands and shook his head, “We only had some practice make-outs, but everybody does that, right?” He chuckled nervously.

“...Practice make-outs?” It was Chan who asked.

“You know, when you make-out with a friend just...for...practice.” Seungkwan slowed down and stopped talking altogether when he realized that all of them were looking at him like they had no idea what he was talking about. He turned to Hansol, hoping that at least his boyfriend would agree that it what no big deal, but he was just staring at his lunch, one hand tightly balled up in a fist.

“So when you told me that there was nothing going on between you and him, you were just lying to me?” He looked up at Seungkwan and more than angry he looked hurt and disappointed.

“No! It _was_ nothing. I-”

Before he could finish talking, Hansol got up and walked away. Seungkwan stood up to go after him, but to his surprise Mingyu also stood up. “I'll go talk to him.”

“Why would you go talk to him and not me? That doesn't even make any sense.” Seungkwan objected.

“Just let me talk to him, okay?” Mingyu insisted and waited for Seungkwan to concede.

Seungkwan sank back down onto his chair and watched Mingyu walk out. “What is happening...one moment I'm having lunch, the next moment people think I slept with my best friend and my boyfriend is mad and getting followed by that friend.” He sighed, but then he noticed everybody was still staring at him.

“What!? I'm telling you nothing really happened between me and Mingyu and the teeny tiny bit of kissing that we did happened before either one of us had a boyfriend.” He sat up straight and made eye contact with Wonwoo. “Please believe me. Mingyu was a bit insecure about his kissing and we just-”

“Practiced? Yeah, I heard.” Wonwoo replied, unable to completely hide the displeasure in his voice. “I believe you and I believe you if you say it didn't mean anything. But that doesn't really explain how this became a story about condoms.”

Seungkwan sighed. He had really hoped he could forget that ever happened. “My mom put condoms on by bed and Hansol saw them. He had gotten it in his head for some reason that me and Mingyu were dating. Which we were NOT. So he must have thought...Look, I didn't even know that he was thinking that at the time. Can we just drop it now?” He looked around the table and was met with a grumpy stare from Jihoon. “Why are _you_ mad? You and your blabbermouth started all this.”  
  


“I just think it's unfair that you never asked any of us if we wanted to make-out.”

“What?!”

“I'm just saying that Mingyu wasn't your only single friend you could have used for practice.”

Seungkwan's jaw dropped, “What are you even talking about you weirdo!? Seriously, I'm so done with this conversation. He's going to meet my mom tomorrow and now he's mad and I'm hoping Mingyu isn't making things worse right now.” He stared at the door leading out of the cafeteria, but of course he couldn't see, let alone hear, anything.

<>

“Hansol, wait!” Mingyu yelled out as he caught up with Hansol in the hallway.

He stopped, but he didn't look very happy to see him.

“Can we talk? I want to say something to you.”

Hansol nodded. He wasn't really mad at Mingyu. He wasn't even really mad at Seungkwan. But he couldn't help feeling upset about this. There was no denying that Seungkwan and Mingyu had a close relationship and Hansol sometimes wondered where the boundaries of that relationship were.

Neither one of them felt like having this conversation in the middle of the hallway, so they went outside and found a spot away from any other students. They were sitting on a low stone wall, dangling their feet off the edge.

“So...you remember how I was at the beginning of last year? I barely talked to anyone, nobody talked to me. I know people talked about me behind my back.”

Hansol hadn't expected their talk to start like this. Thinking back, he felt bad. He had heard the rumors too and even though he didn't think he'd ever been mean to him, he hadn't exactly made any effort to be nice to him either.

“Even before that, I had spent a lot of time feeling alone, confused and scared.” Mingyu continued. “A lot of it probably came from figuring out that I was gay and dealing with that. Things started to get out of hand at my old school and I just felt angry all the time. By the time I started here I was just...well...not myself.” He took a short pause. Hansol was looking at him with full attention now. They had never talked like this before. Mingyu took a deep breath. He never liked talking about that period of his life, but he felt like Hansol needed to hear it. “Seungkwan was the first person in a long time who was nice to me.”

“Mingyu, I-”

“I'm not finished. I'm not trying to make you feel bad or guilty or anything, I wouldn't have talked to me either. I just want to explain about me and Seungkwan. When we were working on a science project together I went over to his house. I was so nervous, but as it turned out we got along great. I kissed him in a weird moment. Not because I was in love with him or anything like that. It was just...I guess I needed to know what it was like to kiss another boy and Seungkwan made me feel like maybe it was okay. Of course I freaked out about it right after and ran away.” A soft smile tugged on the corners of his mouth thinking back at it. “Anyway, what's important here is that he helped me a lot after that. He helped me accept who I am and to have more confidence in myself. I don't want you to be mad at him for it.”

“I'm not mad at him for that. But he told me that there was _nothing_ going on between you two. Making out is not _nothing_.”

“Dude, come on. It was just as friends.”

“If it really was nothing he could have told me about it.”

“Do you really want to know about all the people your boyfriend has made out with?”

Hansol's eyes widened, “Is it that many!?”

“No! That's not what I meant! As far as I know only one other guy and some girls. Ah shit, I don't know if I should even tell you this stuff. Ehm, just, think of it like this: did you tell him about the people you've kissed?”

“It's different!” Hansol objected, “You guys are really close...and...I've never really...before...” He away and bounced his heel against the stones of the wall.

Mingyu looked at him for a moment. Was he saying what he thought he was? “Are you telling me that...Seungkwan was your first kiss?”

“Kinda...unless you count that three second kiss when I was like six, but I don't think that counts.” Hansol mumbled.

“That...”

Hansol still didn't look at Mingyu. He just knew he was about to say how boring he was and how late to the party.

“...is so sweet!” Mingyu finished with delight in his voice.

Hansol turned to look at him, “Not lame?”

“Of course not! Plenty of people have their first kiss way later than that anyway!”

“I bet you didn't.” Hansol muttered under his breath. He wasn't even sure why he cared. Especially after the story Mingyu just told him.

“Depends on what first kiss. First kiss about three years ago, but it was mostly peer pressure and me trying to look like I liked girls. First kiss with a boy was last year with Seungkwan. First kiss with someone I had romantic feelings for was Wonwoo and from what I gather you were a star witness to that...”

“Oh yeah...I almost went over to punch you in the face that time.”

“What!? Why?”

“Because I thought you were cheating on Seungkwan.”

“Sol, please. Seungkwan and I are close, yes. But not like that. Okay? We never were. How did you even get that in your head?”

“I dunno...No, actually, I do know. You two might not have realized it, but you're super clingy and stuff sometimes.”

“Oh...is that...does that bother you?” Mingyu knew that he and Seungkwan didn't shy away from skinship between them, but it just felt so normal between them at this point that he had never considered it to possibly upset Hansol.

“A little, if I'm being honest. But I don't want it to bother me and I don't want you two to feel like you have to change the way you are together. I guess it's just that I spent months thinking of it as a romantic thing and now it's hard to see it as anything but that....”

“I guess I can understand that.” Mingyu replied.

“You can?”

“Well, I mean, I guess from an outsider's perspective it's possible to get the wrong idea. And once such an idea is stuck in your head you might start reading something into everything.”

“Right! That's exactly what happened! Man, I can't tell you what a nightmare it was seeing you two hugging and giggling and even the bickering was-” Remembering who he was talking to he stopped and cleared his throat. “Anyway, thanks for talking to me, man. I'm glad you can see where I'm coming from.”

“Any time. Now how about we go back in? The bell's going to ring any second now and I'm sure Seungkwan is dying to know what's going on.”

Hansol hopped down from the wall. “And maybe you might want to check in with your own boyfriend too.”

“Oh shit, you're right...”

Hansol chuckled at Mingyu's shocked face. “Come on, let's go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Someone get Jihoon a new boyfriend/someone to date, lol  
> -Should Seungkwan have told him before or was it not really any of Hansol's business to know they had kissed? (...let's not mention the porn watching)
> 
> So...next time it's time to meet the parents, but that's not really the most important thing that happens :D It's nothing bad, I promise! In fact, it's something good! (also kind of thinking about skipping actually writing the full scene where Seungkwan meets Hansol's parents since nothing really happens so much, so please let me know if you'd like to read it anyway!)


	37. HS2-7 Meeting the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol comes over to meet Seungkwan's mother for the first time. Seungkwan has something to talk to him about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening (/morning/afternoon/night)~ Please enjoy Verkwan going over to each other's houses to meet families!

As soon as the doorbell rang Seungkwan jumped up from the couch and ran towards the door, “I'll get it!” He opened it and let his boyfriend in. As he was taking off his coat Seungkwan started fussing with his hair. Hansol let him and patiently waited for him to be satisfied with his appearance. “There. Okay. Ready?”

They went into the living room and Seungkwan introduced him to his mother who greeted him with a warm smile. “It's nice to finally meet you, Hansol. Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. So why don't you two go put your things in Seungkwan's room first? We'll get to know each other better over a dinner.”

They went to his bedroom and Seungkwan closed the door behind them, “My mom told me to prepare a bed for you on the floor...” he said looking down at the inflatable mattress next to his bed.

“Okay, cool. Thanks.” Hansol replied and he placed his bag next to it.

“But...” Seungkwan said as he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around him from behind, “I was thinking...if you want, you can just sleep in my bed with me.”

Hansol turned around in his arms, “Yeah? Are you sure it's okay?”

Seungkwan nodded, “Let's just make sure to toss the sheets on your bed around a bit so it looks like you slept there.”

Hansol chuckled, “I'm kind of glad now that we decided to spend the night here instead of at my place. My parents told me to keep my door open at all times when you come over.” Seungkwan let him go and sat down on his bed.“So, eh...should we go help your mom or something?” Hansol asked.

“Ehm, actually. Can we talk about something?”

Hansol sat down next to him, “Sure. What is it?”

“It's kind of embarrassing, but...my mom had _the talk_ with me. Well, sort of.”

“I'm assuming that with ' _the talk_ _'_ you mean...sex?” Hansol had to admit that the topic had been on his mind as well. Especially after lunch yesterday.

He nodded shyly. “I know this isn't the best time to bring it up, or maybe it is, but she mentioned boundaries and being ready and all that and I was just wondering where you stand on all that...”

“Oh, ehm, I don't know really. I guess if you-”

“I don't think I'm ready yet.” Seungkwan blurted out before Hansol could continue.

Hansol let out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank god, because neither am I.”

“You're not?”

“Are you kidding? We haven't even done any under the shirt stuff yet! Don't get me wrong, making out with you is _awesome_ and I can definitely see myself being ready for more at some point, but we can just take it slow, right?”

“Right.” Seungkwan scooted closer and leaned his head on Hansol's shoulder. He found his hand and tangled their fingers together. “What exactly does under the shirt stuff mean anyway?” He thought back to the adult videos he had watched with Mingyu, but there hadn't been any under the shirt action. Everyone was naked very quickly.

“You know,” Hansol said with a blush that Seungkwan couldn't see, “...rubbing and stuff.”

“Rubbing?”

“Like...caressing or something.”

“Oh...I thought it meant licking each others nipples or something weird like that.”

“M-maybe that too.”

“Although...seems pretty hard to do if you still have a shirt on.”

“Eh, yeah I guess. Can we maybe stop talking about nipples right before we're going to have dinner with your mother?”

<>

Hansol let out another sound of amazement and awe as he tasted more of the food Seungkwan's mother had prepared.

“I'm glad to see you're enjoying my cooking, Hansol.” She said as she offered him another side dish.

“It's really delicious, Mrs. Boo! I mean, my mother can cook pretty well too, but this...this is amazing.”

“Yeah, it's really great mom, but don't you think you made a bit...much?” The whole table was filled with enough food to feed at least twice the number of people actually at the table.

“What we don't finish now will be lunch tomorrow. I didn't know what kind of appetite Hansol has and I didn't want him to go hungry. Besides, it's a special occasion. So, now, Hansol, tell me a bit about yourself.”

“Oh, ehm, I'm in the basketball and English club just like Seungkwan and I like riding my bicycle...that's about it, I guess.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “And he's really kind and has a unique mind and...he's cute.”

“Unique mind?” Hansol questioned, “Is that a compliment?”

“Of course it is! Why would I list one of your bad qualities in front of my mom?”

His mother smiled looking at the two of them and let out a chuckle as they bickered about Hansol's other _qualities_.

“What?” Seungkwan looked at her, not sure what was so funny.

“Oh, nothing. You two seem to be having fun.”

After dinner the two boys did the dishes together and when they walked back into the living room there was a stack of what looked like photo albums on the table.

“Ehm, what's all this, mom?”

“I thought Hansol might like to see some of your pictures from when you were little.”

“That's okay, mom, I'm sure he doesn't-” But before Seungkwan could even finish his sentence Hansol had sat down with a big smile on his face.

“I'd love to! You must have been so adorable, Kwannie!”

Seungkwan didn't miss the little smirk his mother sent his way and with a sigh he also sat down. He peaked over Hansol's shoulder to see what he was looking at. “I _was_ pretty adorable.” he mumbled.

The rest of the evening went by quickly and it was soon time for bed. They had already brushed their teeth together and got changed and Hansol was just waiting for Seungkwan to get back from the bathroom. He stared down at the bed. The last time he had spent the night in this house Seungkwan had been sleeping very close to him as well. But this time was different. He sat down on the edge of Seungkwan's bed. This time if he looked at Seungkwan and wanted to kiss him, he could. In fact, he thought the chances of them going to sleep without making out for a bit were very small. There was a knock on the door and Hansol jumped up. “Y-yes?”

Seungkwan's mother popped her head round the door, “I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need? I hope this old mattress is good enough for one night.”

“Ah, eh, no, that's totally fine. This is great. I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby.”

Seungkwan appeared from behind his mother and pushed passed her into his bedroom. “Good night, mom. See you in the morning.”

“Good night, boys.”

  
He closed the door and flipped the switch for the main light, leaving only the dim light of the lamp on his bedside table. He walked over to his bed, hopped on and kicked the covers down with his feet so he could crawl under them. He made sure to leave room for Hansol to join him. “Are you just going to stand there? Do you need to use the bathroom or something?”

“No, I just...maybe I should just sleep in my own bed...your mom...”

“Will never know.” He rolled over on his stomach and reached down to mess up the sheets on Hansol's bed. “There.” He strained his neck to look up. “Unless you don't want to.”

“Move.”

Seungkwan rolled back onto his side and Hansol got in the bed. He pulled the blanket up to cover most of their bodies. They were facing each other with little space between them in Seungkwan's single bed. “How do you think tonight went?” Hansol whispered. “Your mom's nice.”

“Yeah, she is. And there is no way she didn't like you with the way you were praising her food and looking through her photo albums.”

“You really were adorable. You still are.” He smiled gently as he stroked a lock of hair out of Seungkwan's eyes. “Do you think I'll ever get to meet the rest of your family? Your sisters and your dad?”

“My sisters for sure. They definitely want to meet you. I didn't even tell them yet and I got messages from them demanding photos. Mom told them.”

“And your dad?”

Seungkwan cast his eyes down, “Yeah, maybe. I don't talk to him much to be honest.”

Hansol continued to silently take in his boyfriend's features. He somehow looked different tonight. Maybe it was the low lighting or the fact that they were lying in the same bed under the same sheets for the first time. Neither one of them said a word and Hansol closed the distance between them. The sounds their lips made sounded louder in the quiet night, despite the softness of the kiss.

Seungkwan felt Hansol's hand on his hip. His shirt had crawled up slightly so there was nothing separating Hansol's hand from his warm skin. He pulled back a little and they looked at each other.

“Is it okay if I move my hand further up?” Hansol whispered keeping his hand in place.

Seungkwan nodded, not losing eye contact. He twitched a little when Hansol's hand brushed along his side and the movement stopped. “It just tickled.” He clarified. “Here, I'll show you, so you can feel it too.” With care he found the hem of Hansol's shirt and put his hand under it. He slowly made his way up like Hansol had. He felt him shiver slightly. Seungkwan let out a shy laugh, “See? It tickles, right?”

Hansol nodded and he bit his lower lip. He started to move his hand further up while Seungkwan's hand stayed where it was halfway up his side. He found Seungkwan's mouth again and gently pried it open with his lips, making room for his tongue to slip in.

The kiss quickly turned into their most passionate one yet. Seungkwan turned to lie on his back and pulled Hansol half on top of him. He explored the soft skin of his back underneath his shirt. Hansol was using one of his hands to keep himself from putting too much weight on Seungkwan and the other was placed on his stomach just above the hem of his pajama bottoms. The temptation to take this one step further was there, but instead Hansol pulled back. Slightly out of breath he looked at Seungkwan's flushed face. He took his hand from Seungkwan's stomach and brought it up to the side of his face instead.

He leaned down. “Goodnight, Seungkwan.” He whispered against his lips before placing one last kiss on them. He could kiss him all night, but he also wanted to simply sleep with him in his arms. For now that was enough.

{Hansol's house, the next day}

Seungkwan focused on the screen. He pulled his arm back and made his move. He watched as his virtual bowling ball knocked down seven pins. A result he was moderately pleased with. At least it was better than Hansol's score.

They were all gathered around the living room; Seungkwan, Hansol, his parents and his younger sister; and currently engaged in an intense after dinner Wii sports battle. Hansol's father turned out to be somewhat of an expert at it and Seungkwan made little claps with his hands when the man hit another strike.

He had never experienced a family dynamic like this one. One where the parents didn't seem to thoroughly dislike each other and everybody had fun together. From the moment Seungkwan had met them he had felt at ease around them. With the way Hansol had told them about having a boyfriend Seungkwan had to admit he had been a bit worried that they'd still be processing the fact that their son was dating a boy, but if that was true they hid it well. Seungkwan didn't feel unwelcome for a second and he hoped Hansol had felt the same way yesterday.

“Well, boys, I think it's clear that I am still the reigning champion of this house.” Mr. Chwe laughed at the end of the game.

“Maybe next time we should try our hand at karaoke and give Seungkwan a chance to dethrone you, dear.” Mrs. Chwe joked in response with a playful smile in Seungkwan's direction.

“Oh, ehm, I'm not that good.” Seungkwan replied humbly.

“Now, now, Hansol has shown us some videos of you rehearsing and you have a very good singing voice, Seungkwan.”

He turned to look at his boyfriend who looked busted. “You have videos of me rehearsing?”

“Eeehh...”

“We weren't even dating then...” Seungkwan muttered. He wasn't angry or anything. He was just once again hit with the realization that Hansol had been in love with him for all that time.

Hansol's sister, Sofia, let out an overdramatic gasp. “Oh my god, why are you such a stalker!”

“I wasn't stalking him! I was right there in the room with them and I was just...in case they wanted to review their music or...or something.”

“Then why didn't Seungkwan know about it?” She laughed at Hansol's embarrassed face.

“Honey, stop teasing your brother. He was clearly just in love and sometimes we do things we normally wouldn't do when we're in love.” His father joined the conversation.

“Stop making it sound like I was some creep filming him getting changed or something!” Hansol whined.

His mother stood up from the couch to save her son from this conversation, “We still haven't had dessert. Who wants some ice cream?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -sorry if the cut-off is a bit random, but it's just a little slice of their evening  
> -Is she even Mrs. Boo?? Like...they're divorced and I heard that Korean women don't often take their husbands last name??  
> -Hansol likes to get that consent before he turns up the heat. Be like Hansol. (they are still getting to know each others boundaries after all.)  
> -Who do you think will be ready to 'go all the way' first?


	38. HS2-8 Garage Band

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisoo has arranged for the band to get together in some guy's garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi~ Not a very long chapter this time, but I thought it would be nice for the band members to get together (just because Seungkwan has a boyfriend now doesn't mean everything has to be about their relationship, lol)

“I think this is it.” Seungkwan said as he checked the map on his phone and the address Jisoo had sent him. “He said that we shouldn't use the doorbell and just message him...”

“I'll do it.” Seokmin said as he opened their music club groupchat (that had now been renamed to _Band of Beauties_ by Jeonghan).

A few moments later the doors to the garage opened to reveal the other members and an array of instruments already inside. Seungkwan walked in with his bike in hand and placed it next to the other's.

“Wow, this place is pretty big!” Seokmin said with a big smile on his face. He greeted Jisoo with a hug.

“I found it on Craigslist.” Jisoo explained. “This guy used to play in a heavy metal band, but now he just rents out his garage for other people to practice in. He said we're free to use any instruments in here and it's totally soundproof.”

“What happened to his band?” Seokmin asked.

“He didn't murder his band members or something like that, did he?” Seungkwan said as he let his eyes go around the garage, looking for anything suspicious.

“Not everyone on Craigslist is a creep, Seungkwan.” Jeonghan laughed.

“Oh yeah? How are we paying for this? Don't tell me it's free, because if it's free I'm out of here. There is no way that-”

“Will you relax?” Jihoon spoke up. He was already sitting behind the drums, eager to play. He had hoped to still use the music room at school, but he had been actually focusing on studying for a change and he hadn't played much. “Jisoo's dad is paying.”

“Oh?” Seungkwan had only met Jisoo's parents a few times and very briefly, so he wasn't really sure what kind of man his father was.

“Yeah...he knows how much I liked music club and the band and just playing with you guys, so he offered to pay. It was his idea actually, to look for a practice space.”

“That's so sweet.” Seungkwan smiled. “Tell him thanks, please.”

“Oh! Guys!” Jeonghan suddenly exclaimed, “I have something exciting to tell you! My floor is having a party soon and you should totally come too!”

“A college party?” Seokmin asked while biting his lower lip, “Is that legal?”

“Can I bring Hansol?”

“Of course! I was going to invite him anyway. I can't forget about my roof tops.”

Jihoon scoffed, “Who's a roof _top_?”

“Will we finally be able to meet your _amazing_ roommate?” Seungkwan asked, ignoring Jihoon. He let his eyes shift over to Jisoo. He still wanted to know what he thought about how close Jeonghan seemed to have gotten to the young man he shared a bedroom with.

“Definitely. I can't wait for you to meet him! I'm sure you'll like him.”

“Will you be there, Jisoo?”

Jisoo deflated himself with a sigh and shook his head, “Unfortunately, no. My exam week is a week later than theirs and I'll be way too busy.”

“That roommate of yours knows you have a boyfriend, right?” Seungkwan asked with his eyes on Jeonghan this time.

“Yes. In fact, we've hung out together with the three of us. Why? Are you worried I'm having a secret affair? _Forbidden love in the dorm room?_ ”

“N-no.” Seungkwan's replied, slightly embarrassed by how ridiculous it sounded.

“I'm hurt that you'd think I'd ever cheat on the love of my life.” Jeonghan said as he walked over to Jisoo and hooked their arms together. He was only teasing and was quite amused by Seungkwan's red face.

“I don't! But I don't know this guy! What if he comes on to you or something.”

“Seungkwan, my dear, while I understand your concern seeing how much more handsome I've become since shedding the shackles of high school, there is no way Seungcheol would ever go after someone in a relationship. And I told him about Jisoo on the night we met. He's a hopeless romantic, maybe even more than Seokmin, so our high school love had him squealing with delight. Besides, even if someone comes on to me I'll just tell them no, so I don't really see the problem.”

“Maybe I'll ask Jaehyun to come with me...” Seokmin mumbled totally unrelated to the conversation. “...you know...my boyfriend.”

Jeonghan let out a squeal himself and let go of Jisoo so his hands were free to grab Seokmin's face and squeeze his cheeks together, “I'm still so happy that you two made it official, Minnie. Let me look at you before the innocence leaves your cute face.”

“Now, why is it that _he_ can say weird shit like that. If I would have said the same thing I'd have definitely pissed someone off.” Jihoon huffed and he pointed one of the drumsticks at Jeonghan.

“It's not what you say, Hoonie. It's how you say it. Everything I say comes from a place of pure love.” Jeonghan replied as he was running his fingers through Seokmin's hair to fix the mess he had made of it.

Jihoon scoffed, “Love? Maybe. Pure? I don't think so. You've been a perv in disguise for as long as I've known you.”

“Oh yeah? I'm not the one giving people blowjobs in the school locker room!”

“ONE TIME that happened! And I was dating the guy, so what's the big deal.”

“...I really wish I hadn't just heard that.” Seungkwan said and Seokmin nodded in silent agreement.

“Guys!” Jisoo interrupted. “I really didn't invite you here to talk about...well...this. I wanted to play some music.”

They played for the rest of the afternoon and Seungkwan felt just how much he had missed this. Not just the music, but also being together with the five of them. Although he did also miss the presence of their two most loyal groupies, Hansol and Mingyu. Still, these guys had been his first friends after moving and he knew they were friends for life. He could picture these guys at his wedding. Jisoo and Jeonghan, still together and perhaps married themselves by then, Seokmin would cry and Jihoon would pretend to hate weddings while stealing one of the centerpieces.

It would still be a long road before Boo Seungkwan could start planning his wedding though. First he'd had to get through whatever high school still had in store for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I swear Jihoon has no chill, lol.  
> -So Seokmin and Jaehyun made it official (Jaehyun asked)  
> -Hmm will that wedding be as Seungkwan imagines now
> 
> Before we get to the party Mingyu has something to tell Seungkwan about his relationship with Wonwoo


	39. HS2-9 Just in Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu calls Seungkwan late at night to tell him what happened to him earlier that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know I'm throwing new chapters at you like crazy this week, haha. But I still have vacation and I'm just home all day. I think I'll be able to finish two more chaps before my vacation is over. Anyway~ enjoy~

It was already late at night and Seungkwan was lying on his bed, aimlessly going through the photos on his phone and listening to music through his earphones. A notification popped up on his screen. He had a message from Mingyu asking if he was still up and if he could call him. He turned around to lie on his stomach and placed the phone in front of him on the bed and leaned down on his hands. “What's up?”

“ _Seungkwan..._ ” Mingyu's voice on the other end of the call sounded soft, like he was trying to keep his voice down, “ _...I think I had sex._ ”

Seungkwan would have most likely dropped his phone out of his hands and onto the floor had he not been in bed, “What!? And what do you mean you _think_? Did you do it wrong?”

“ _No, I mean. I did. Have the sex. It's just kind of weird that I did._ ”

“Oh my god, tell me everything! When did it happen? Please don't tell me you had sex really just now and are calling me from Wonwoo's bathroom or something?”

“ _No, it happened_ _earlier today_ _._ _He was going to help me with my homework, because he's smart and stuff, but then our legs kept brushing together and I guess we both kind of felt the tension, so we started making out. We moved things to his bed and then...we did it._ ”

“I feel like I'm missing something between making out and doing it.”

“ _Well, you know, clothes started coming off and...there you go.”_

“Okay, so...how was it? Was it romantic or awkward or what?”

“ _A bit of both?_ _It was nice though. Not that I have anything to compare it to.”_

“Except for that porn we watched... It wasn't like that, right?”

“ _No, really nothing like it. It was much more...I dunno...like...I wasn't expecting the sounds._ ”

“Eh...what kind of sounds?”

“ _Like...body sounds and, eh, our voices._ ”

“You know...I know I said to tell me everything, but I think I'm good.” While Seungkwan was curious, there was such a thing as knowing too much about how your best friend has sex. “Did he think it was nice too?”

“ _I think so?”_

“Dude, you better make sure!”

“ _I'm pretty sure! But I couldn't just ask him if it was nice, now could I!”_

“Why the fuck not?”

“ _Because it's embarrassing! I asked him if he was okay during, so...”_

“I guess that's something. What happened after?”

“ _What do you mean?_ ”

“I don't know...did you cuddle for a while or something?”

“ _No, I had to get home for dinner_.”

Seungkwan took a moment to reply, “...you had to get home for dinner?”

“ _Well, yeah. I told my mom I'd be home for dinner. So...”_

“Oh my god, does that mean you lost your virginity with his parents in the house in the middle of the day!?”

“ _No! They weren't home yet. And it was more late afternoon. Besides, does that even matter?”_

“I guess not. I just image that after I lose my virginity I wouldn't have to leave right away. Or that the other person leaves. But maybe that's just me.”

“ _We didn't plan for it to happen_ _._ _Anyway, I just wanted to tell you, I guess.”_

“Mingyu? You don't regret it or anything, right? You can tell me.”

“ _No, not at all. It was a little unexpected, but it was good. I'm glad it happened.”_

“Okay, good.”

“ _Seungkwan?_ ”

“Yeah?”

“ _You and Hansol haven't yet, right? Will you tell me if you do?”_

“I don't have to tell you everything.”

“ _I told you!”_

“I didn't ask you to.” Seungkwan was glad Mingyu couldn't see him smile. He knew Mingyu liked telling Seungkwan about what was going on with him and Wonwoo and honestly Seungkwan liked hearing it. He was curious by nature and seeing how close they were he had expected Mingyu to tell him anyway. Just like he would tell Mingyu when he and Hansol would sleep together for the first time. “Don't I tell you just about everything?”

“ _So when do you think you two will...”_

“Shouldn't you call Wonwoo and ask if you've managed to make the losing of his virginity a pleasant experience?”

“ _I....rude.”_

“I'm just kidding. I'm sure it was fine. And me and Hansol will do it when we do it, okay?”

“ _Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it's pretty late and I'm beat. Sweet dreams.”_

Seungkwan snorted, “Yeah, I bet you're exhausted from all the sex.”

“ _Oh my god, shut up, you virgin! Good night!”_

“Good ni- oh wait! Are you guys sure you don't want to come to Jeonghan's party tomorrow?”

“ _Yeah...Wonwoo said he really has to study and I don't feel like going to some college party without him._ _I should probably study, too._ _”_

“Suit yourself. I'm just going to meet Jeonghan's roommate mostly.”

“ _As long as you don't get drunk and do something stupid.”_

“Yes, mom.”

They ended the call and Seungkwan sighed. He turned around on his back and stared at the ceiling. He let the conversation sink in. He could hardly believe Mingyu just had sex. He knew it wasn't a competition or anything, but wasn't he the one who had shown Mingyu how to kiss? It also made him wonder, when _would_ he and Hansol have sex for the first time? Lately when they made out and Hansol's hands would gingerly explore the lowest part of his stomach Seungkwan had started to feel like he didn't want him to stop there. He wasn't sure if that meant he wanted it to turn into sex or just a bit more than they had done thus far. He sat up straight and stared at his nightstand. He opened the drawer and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. He got up from his bed with the condom in hand and squatted down in front of his schoolbag next to his desk. He fished out his wallet and opened it up. He hesitated and looked at the condom in his hand. This was a thing people did, right? Keep a condom in their wallets just in case.

“ _Just in case_.” he whispered to himself. He carefully placed it in a part of his wallet where it wouldn't just fall out or be easily noticeable. He wasn't sure if Hansol had any and he'd hate to be unprepared. If the occasion would arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...there we have it. Mingyu lost his virginity before Seungkwan (is that surprising or were you expecting it to go like this?)  
> -every relationship moves at a different pace (also, Mingyu and Wonwoo have been dating a tiny bit longer)  
> -Seungkwan please stop making Mingyu insecure, lol
> 
> Next time it's party time. We will meet Seungcheol in the flesh and some things will happen (I mean, duh, but it's a party. Lot's of things can happen at a party)


	40. HS2-10 College Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan, Hansol, Jihoon, Chan, Seokmin and Jaehyun head over to Jeonghan's college for the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Party time~ Seungcheol's first real appearance :)

When they arrived at Jeonghan's dorms it wasn't hard to figure out where to go. All they had to do was follow the music. A bit hesitant they stood around the entrance, checking out the people. They were definitely the youngest at this party and from the looks of it also some of the more sober ones.

“Let's go and find Jeonghan. We don't have that much time.” Seokmin said, trying to speak loud enough so they could hear him over the music. By 'we' he meant himself and Jaehyun.

“I still can't believe you actually told your parents you were going to a party.” Chan, most definitely the youngest one there, said as he shook his head.

“What? I'm a terrible liar...I didn't tell them it was a _college_ party.”

“Yeah, but you got a _curfew_.” Jihoon pointed out. He had told his parents part of the truth. That he was going over to Jeonghan. What he failed to mention was the party. He had told them it was to get a feeling for his college to see if he wanted to go there next year.

Jaehyun swung his arm around his boyfriend's neck, “Do you want a drink? Let's make the most of the time that we have.”

As a group they started to move through the crowd, but very quickly lost track of each other. Seungkwan turned around and around trying to spot any familiar face while holding on to Hansol's arm to make sure he wouldn't be left completely by himself in this swamp of intoxicated college students. Just then he spotted Jeonghan's slightly red face across the room. His hair had gotten longer again. Seungkwan dragged Hansol over to him. As soon as he saw them Jeonghan grabbed them in a sloppy hug. “Finally! Where is the rest? It's not just you two, right?”

“No, Jihoon, Seokmin and Jaehyun are also here. Somewhere. Oh and Chan, but you don't know him.”

“Hansol and Hoonie have told me about him though. I'll be sure to introduce myself if I manage to run into him. We weren't expecting this party to be so...well received. I don't know half these people” He laughed.

“So? Where's your roommate?”

“You couldn't have had worse timing to be honest. We were running low on some stuff so he ran out to buy some more. He'll be back soon though. Why don't you guys look around, have fun, have a drink and I'll introduce you when he gets back.” He grabbed two drinks from a tray someone was carrying around and handed it to them.

Seungkwan sniffed the drink and scrunched up his nose. Hansol sniffed it too, shrugged and took a gulp. Seungkwan, not wanting to look like a dweeb, carefully took a sip. He couldn't imagine this becoming his new favorite drink, but it wasn't as bad as he had been expecting. He didn't really like the way it burned his throat, but the fruity sweetness was not unpleasant. He took another sip.

“Jeonghan!” A deep voice came from behind them and they turned around to see a tall handsome young man with his arms full of shopping bags, “Did you invite all these minors here?”

“Relax, Cheollie. They don't have school tomorrow.”

“Their education is not what I'm worried about! They're getting drunk!”

“They're fine.”

“One of them just slapped me on the ass when I walked in!”

Jeonghan burst out in a loud laughter “Oh my god, who was it?”

“I don't know.” He looked around for a second and nodded his head in a direction, “That one over there!”

Jeonghan looked over and an even louder laugh escaped his mouth, “Lee Jihoon, get your hands of that drink! You know you have the tolerance of a toddler!”

“You!” Seungcheol said as he dropped one bag on the floor and grabbed someone by the collar of his shirt, “Just how old are you, kid?”

“Ehm...I'm sixteen...in a few months.”

Jeonghan gasped, “A baby! What's your name?”

“Lee Chan.”

“Oooh the famous Lee Chan! You're the one who has taken over my rooftop spot, aren't you? Come here. We've got lots to talk about.” He swung his arm around Chan's shoulder and pulled him away from the crowd. He turned his head back, “Cheollie, can you make sure Jihoon over there loses that drink in his hand? I'll make sure this one doesn't drink anything. Oh and Seungkwan, Hansol, this is my roommate Seungcheol. I'm sure you recognize him from the photos I sent. Seungcheol, Seungkwan and Hansol.”

Seungcheol sighed and bent down to pick up the bag again. “Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Choi Seungcheol. Do you guys mind helping me with this?”

They each took a bag from him and followed him to a more quiet area of the party floor to put it down.

“Thanks. So, what do you think of the party? I didn't mean to sound like such a buzz kill before.” He looked at the drinks still in their hands. “Just don't get completely wasted, okay?”

They both nodded. “We just got here.” Seungkwan answered. “Jeonghan gave us the drinks.” He added in a mumbled.

Seungcheol sighed, “Really, that guy.”

“So...what's it like sharing a room with Jeonghan?”

“It's like sharing a room with Jeonghan _and_ Jisoo to be honest.” He laughed. “Those two are constantly on video chat and at night they usually keep their call going while falling asleep. It's kinda cute. But he's a great roommate. We get along really well, you know. Anyway, listen, I'd better go check on that Jihoon friend of yours like Han asked me. He's the drummer in your band, right?”

“Eh, yeah. How do you know?”

Seungcheol chuckled, “It's hard not to with how much Jeonghan talks about you guys. He's also shown me pictures and stuff. I didn't recognize him immediately, but that's maybe also because in the photos he did _not_ look like the type of guy to just slap people on the ass. ”

“Yeah...” Hansol agreed. “He's not really.”

“Well, anyway, it was nice meeting you guys. Enjoy yourselves and maybe I'll catch you later.”

A while later Seungkwan was leaning against a wall. Not enjoying himself. The drink he drank made him feel funny and he did not enjoy the sight of his boyfriend dancing with some girl. He had told Hansol no when he asked him to dance. He felt too conscious of his surroundings to not care about looking like an idiot. He knew that this wasn't their school and these people were not their classmates, but he still felt too self-conscious to just go out there and dance like he didn't care who saw him. Most of them would most likely not care at all about the fact they were two boys. Jeonghan had been open about his sexuality with the people on his floor and it wasn't as if Seokmin and Jaehyun weren't dancing together as well. But besides the gay thing, they were still minors at a college party and if some of them had a high sense of school pride they might not take kindly to a bunch of randoms. He was kind of regretting it now though. Hansol obviously didn't share his concerns about standing out too much and he seemed to be having a good time with this college girl grinding on him (she really wasn't, but Seungkwan definitely saw it as far too intimate).

Maybe Hansol thought he was boring now. Maybe Hansol had wanted Seungkwan to grind up on him Maybe Hansol hadn't really meant it when he said he wanted to wait with having sex. Maybe if they weren't dating he'd be trying to hook-up with someone at this party.

Seungkwan should have known it was the alcohol talking. If he had stopped to think he'd realize that most of what he was thinking didn't make sense given Hansol's personality. But Seungkwan wasn't thinking all that much at the moment and as soon as Hansol took a break from dancing and walked over, Seungkwan grabbed him by the hand and pulled him away. He led him down the hall and when he spotted what looked like a bathroom dragged him inside.

Seungkwan shut the door behind them and without saying a word pressed Hansol up against it. He started kissing him with such enthusiasm that Hansol barely had time to take in what was going on. Seungkwan pulled back, looked at Hansol for a second, and swiftly pulled his own shirt over his head. He got back to kissing him and his hands made his way under Hansol's shirt. He pushed the fabric up and started tugging it over his head.

“S-Seungkwan, wha-”

But he couldn't get a word in edgewise with Seungkwan back on his mouth as soon as he'd rid him of his shirt. He started to move his kisses down the line of Hansol's neck and his hands were now placed on his hips on the border between skin and clothing.

“I'm sorry, but, what's happening right now?” Hansol was finally able to ask.

“I'm just...” Seungkwan said between kisses that went lower and lower. “...spicing things up.” He made an attempt to add action to words when he reached for Hansol's belt, but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

“Can you maybe slow down a minute?” Hansol said and he released his grip.

Seungkwan stared at him, but still had a teasing smile on his face, taking Hansol's resistance for shyness rather than unwillingness. “It's okay.” He whispered, his hands were still hovering over the clasp of his belt. “I think I'm ready for it.” He leaned in and tried to kiss him again and his fingers reached for his belt once more.

This time Hansol was less gentle when he slapped Seungkwan's hand away from him. “Just stop it! What has gotten into you?”

“I just...wanted to take things to the next level. Really, I'm ready.”

Hansol let out an annoyed scoff, “Has it ever occurred to you that _I'm_ not ready? Why are you assuming that when we have sex is determined by when _you_ are ready? ”

“I didn't mean...I just thought...” Seungkwan mumbled, but he wasn't even sure what he had been thinking.

“What? What exactly did you think? Think back for a moment, will you? When we talked about it I told you I wasn't ready, just like you. The furthest we've gone is feeling around under each other's shirt and now you're the one who suddenly has us in here with our shirts off ready to do who knows what!? Without even asking me if I'm okay with it. You're making me feel like that when you're ready, that's it. That's when we're going to have sex or do whatever it is that you were trying to do. What if I'm not ready then? What if I'm not ready now?” Instead of giving Seungkwan time to respond he got his shirt, pulled the door open and walked out, leaving Seungkwan by himself.

Seungkwan didn't go after him. He sat down on the closed lid of the toilet. He bent down to pick up his own shirt off the floor. He felt so stupid. He put his shirt back on, but didn't get up. Tears of frustration and embarrassment started to fall down on his lap.

There was a knock on the door. “Seungkwan?” Jeonghan's voice asked from the other side. “Are you in there? I'm coming in, okay?” He heard the door open, but Seungkwan kept his head down. “What's going on? Hansol just left, something about catching the last bus together with Minnie and Jaehyun. He asked me to check on you and- Oh, my baby, why are you crying?”

“Because I'm stupid...”

“What happened?” Jeonghan knelt down next to him and took his hand. When he wasn't making jokes or messing around Jeonghan had this soothing quality about him that made Seungkwan feel safe.

Seungkwan shrugged, “I got jealous because he danced with a girl and I thought maybe he thought we were taking things too slow, so I took him in here to...I don't even know. And then he got mad at me and he said I think that how far we take things depends on how far _I_ want things to go...”

“Do you?”

Seungkwan sniffed. “Maybe I sort of did. I just thought he'd be ready before me.”

“Why?”

“I don't know...”

Jeonghan sighed and wrapped his arms around his friend, “I'm sure you know this when you take a moment to think, but you have to talk to him about how you both feel. Not just assume how he feels.”

“I know.”

“And, not to judge, but this bathroom isn't exactly romantic. Or even sexy.”

Seungkwan sniffed again. “I can't believe he just left...should I call him?” He didn't really feel like calling him right now.

“Maybe it's better to let things cool down? I told them to message me when they get home safe, so for tonight let things be and talk to him tomorrow?”

“Do you and Jisoo have these problems? About sex and stuff, I mean.”

“Sure. For example, I'm totally open to phone sex, but he says it's embarrassing and doesn't want to do it.”

“I don't think that's the same thing.”

“Sure it is. It's all about communication.”

“When did you two do it? If you don't mind me asking...”

“Oh, ehm...that day of the sleepover when Hansol confessed to you...I went over to Jisoo's after and I stayed over and that's when we did it.”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose. “So your sex anniversary is the same as mine and Hansol's get together anniversary?”

“Hey, you asked. And well, not to give too much information, but we had like, a lot of sex over the summer because we knew we wouldn't be seeing each other so much once college started.”

“You're giving too much information.”

Jeonghan stroked his head.“So, what do you want to do now? Do you still want to sleep here like planned or should I ask Seungcheol to drive you home?”

“He has a car?”

Jeonghan chuckled, “Yeah, it's a real piece of crap to tell you the truth, but it works.”

“Hasn't he been drinking?”

“I wouldn't let him get in a car if he had. Especially not with my precious Seungkwan.”

“Okay...I think I'd like to leave then.”

<>

Seungkwan followed Seungcheol down to the parking lot. He pointed out his car and Seungkwan sat down on the passenger's seat.

“So, where to?” Seungcheol asked with his navigation app at the ready.

“Ehm...” Seungkwan had told his mother he was spending the night at Hansol's as an excuse to go to the party. He was obviously not going to do that and he weighed his options. “...can you hold on for one moment?”

**Mr. Boo:** Are you home?

He gave Seungcheol an apologetic smile as he waited for the three dots indicating that the other person was typing to appear.

**Gyu:** Yeah y?

**Mr. Boo:** Can I sleep at your house tonight?

**Gyu:** Everything OK?

**Mr. Boo:** What do you think?

**Gyu:** Tell me when you get here :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Boo Seungkwan! What are you doing!! He let a combination of alcohol, Hansol dancing with a girl, his own desires, and Mingyu having sex before him (probably) get to his head. Although he didn't necessarily intend to really go /all/ the way.   
> -Jihoon drinks one sip of alcohol and suddenly he's just slapping butts (well...one butt at least). Also, how does Jeonghan know what kind of tolerance Jihoon has? hmm suspicious. But I guess Jihoon is over 18 at this point so...(I know it depends on the country what the legal drinking age is, but let's just say it's 18 here LOL)  
> -Seungcheol won't really come back so much for now, haha. But I hope you liked seeing him for a bit.
> 
> The next two chapters will be a bit short but both dealing with what happens directly after this. First up is Seungkwan going over to Mingyu...


	41. HS2-11 Boorrito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan arrives at Mingyu's and they discuss the events of the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have any opening notes, lol. Have a nice day! Drop me a comment ^_~

It was quiet. Everybody else in the house had already gone to bed. Seungkwan let Mingyu hold his hand and guide him to his bedroom in the dark. The light in his room was still on and Seungkwan saw the makeshift bed Mingyu had made for him on the floor.

“Sorry.” Mingyu said with a voice between a whisper and his normal volume. “I wanted to get you the extra mattress in my parent's bedroom, but they were already asleep so I just piled a bunch of blankets and stuff together.”

“It's fine, thanks. Do you think they'll be mad when they find out I came over so late?”

“Ehm...probably not? Do you need something to sleep in? You can borrow one of my old shirts.”

“Thanks...”

“How did you get here anyway?” Mingyu asked as he went through his closet and pulled out a shirt for Seungkwan to wear. “You didn't take the bus all by yourself this late, did you?”

“No. Seungcheol, Jeonghan's roommate, drove me here. He's really nice by the way.”

“I see. I guess I'll meet him at some point.” Mingyu sat down on his bed and pulled his legs up while Seungkwan got changed. “So...Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Seungkwan sat down on the floor with a sigh. “I behaved like a jerk and now Hansol is mad at me. Although I'm also sort of mad at him for just taking off.”

“He took off? What did you do?”

“I...I took him to a bathroom, started kissing him and then I took our shirts off and...tried to undo his belt.”

“Oh...he didn't like that?”

“Not really. But that's not the worst part. Even after that and after he told me to slow down I tried to do it again.” He grabbed a pillow and hugged it tight. Saying it out loud like this really made him sound like the worst. “Then he got really mad and said that I wasn't thinking about if he might be ready and I just did whatever I wanted to do...” He groaned into the pillow. “Why did I do that? I'm such an idiot.” He looked up at his best friend who had been listening silently. “What are you thinking? Am I a terrible person?”

“I'm thinking...that you should have stopped after he told you to and probably should have checked in if it was okay before you started taking off clothes since you're apparently very bad at sensing the mood, but I also think he shouldn't have just left you there like that.” Mingyu looked at Seungkwan's sulky face and sighed. “Of course I don't think you're a terrible person.”

The room was quiet. Seungkwan played the events over again in his head that felt a lot clearer now that the alcohol was starting to wear off. “I know it wasn't the time or the place, but...I was watching him dance with some college chick and I started to worry that he might think I'm boring and then I just...took action.” He hugged his knees and rested his chin on top. “I guess in my mind I thought...well, I kind of figured that we'd be ready to take the next step at the same time. Is that stupid?”

Mingyu shrugged, “I don't know if it's stupid. A bit unrealistic maybe.” It was quiet again. Mingyu hesitated, not sure if he should say what he was about to. “Seungkwan? Do you know that you were his first kiss?”

Seungkwan scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

“I'm serious. He told me when he got upset that one time at lunch. When he found out me and you kissed.”

Seungkwan lifted his head and looked up at Mingyu. “Wait, for real?”

Mingyu nodded. “I know it doesn't have to say anything about when he's going to be ready to do more, but...what I mean is...look at it from his perspective. Basically everything he's done, he has done with you and for you that's not the case. Maybe he just needs a bit more time to catch up?” Mingyu leaned back on his arms and chewed on his bottom lip. “Or maybe he's just not ready because he's not and that's that. Another possibility is that he's a romantic and you tried to lose your virginity in a random college bathroom.”

Seungkwan picked up a pillow and threw it in Mingyu's direction, “I wasn't trying to lose my virginity!”

Mingyu made a shushing sound, worried that Seungkwan's voice would wake someone up.

“I was just trying to...” he continued in a much lower volume, “...do something that would be difficult to do with a belt on.”

Mingyu softly threw the pillow back to Seungkwan. “In any case, you did end up fucking something.”

Seungkwan furrowed his brows together in a kind of angry confusion.

“Up, Seungkwan. You fucked up.”

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes and glared at him, “I already know I fucked up. I came here because I thought I could count on you to comfort me after fighting with my boyfriend.”

“Sorry. Look, you're going to be fine. Tomorrow you'll message him, talk it out. But what do you say we get some sleep first? I was about to go to bed when I got your message and it's really pretty late now.”

  
Seungkwan's scowl turned into a sad little pout. “Sorry to keep you up.”

“It's fine.” Mingyu said with a yawn, “That's what best friends are for, right?”

They both got under the covers and Mingyu turned off the light.

“Mingyu?” Seungkwan whispered about thirty seconds later.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think Wonwoo would mind if I slept in your bed with you? I feel lonely on the floor here.”

It was quiet for a moment until Mingyu whispered back. “Come on.” He scooted to one edge of the mattress and made room. “Bring your own blanket though.”

Seungkwan stood up and wrapped the blanket tightly around his shoulders before he got into bed with Mingyu.

“I mean...” Mingyu said as he hugged Seungkwan from behind, “...if we're under the same blanket it might look weird.”

Seungkwan felt much better with the warmth of another person surrounding him. “Thank you. For letting me stay here tonight and talking to me.”

“Of course.” Mingyu said with a yawn. “But maybe it's best if we don't tell Wonwoo or Hansol that we slept in the same bed. They'll make a big deal out of it for no reason.”

“Yeah, that's probably for the best.” He closed his eyes and suddenly felt very drowsy, like he could fall asleep at any second. “Good night, Gyu.”

“Good night, Boorrito.” Mingyu sounded like he was already halfway down to dreamland.

“What's a Boorrito?”

“You, wrapped in a blanket.”

“You're an idiot.” was the last thing Seungkwan said before he completely drifted away. It had been a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I might have used the 'Boorrito' in some other fic before, lol not sure (also, I didn't come up with it or anything. I've seen it around twitter)  
> -Mingyu a few chaps ago: "So, Hansol, does my skinship with your boyfriend bother you?"   
> Hansol: "Eh, well, kinda, but I understand you two are close friends so I'll try to be cool with it"  
> Mingyu be like: "Great, so I'm just gonna share a bed with him and hug him while doing it" (srsly as I was writing it even I went 'eeh do you need to HUG him tho??' But I guess he did and don't worry I won't turn it into a big drama point)  
> -I really like writing these moments with Seungkwan and Mingyu...I know maybe more people are waiting for him to talk and make up with Hansol rn, but I'm soft for Boogyu :3 
> 
> Verkwan will talk the next day! (aka next chap!) How do you think it will go?


	42. HS2-12 The Next Level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol asks Seungkwan if he can come over so they can talk about last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyo~ This one is a bit of a rollercoaster!

The next morning Seungkwan woke up with a completely dry mouth and a dull headache lingering beneath his scalp. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why. He groaned as he forced himself to sit up. He looked to his right. Mingyu was still sound asleep with his face buried in his pillow. Seungkwan wondered how he was even able to breathe like that. He looked down to the other side and saw his phone lying on the floor, message light blinking. Right. He had woken up from the sound. He leaned down to pick it up and regret washed over him as his head started to pulsate. His headache wasn't even that bad, but letting the blood rush to it was clearly not the way to go. As he had hoped the message was from Hansol, although he kind of felt bad for letting him reach out first.

**Hansollie:** Hey...can we talk? R u home or did u stay at Jeonghan's?

Seungkwan sucked in his lower lip. Did he have to phrase the question like that? But of course he wanted to talk to him. So much. He didn't want to apologize over text, so he sent a simple reply.

**Kwannie:** I'll be home soon

**Hansollie:** K. I'll come over in about an hour?

**Kwannie:** Okay

He got out from under the covers and found his clothes where he had left them on the floor. As he was folding Mingyu's shirt and tried to make a somewhat neat pile of the pillows and blankets on the floor that had been his bed for less than a minute, he heard Mingyu stirring in his bed.

“You leaving?” Mingyu asked with a hoarse voice.

“Yeah. Hansol is coming over to my house to talk. You go back to sleep.”

Mingyu let his face fall back into his pillow, “Hmkay, go and make up with him. Don't be stubborn and just apologize...and brush your teeth.”

Seungkwan made his way down the stairs as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake anyone seeing as it was still early for the weekend. As it turned out he wouldn't have had to bother, because when he made his way out and was carefully closing the front door he was startled by the voice of Mingyu's father.

“Morning.”

Seungkwan let out a small yelp of surprise and turned around to find him with a big pair of gardening scissors in hand.

“I was just thinking of trimming this tree.” He said as he pointed the scissors to one of the trees right in front of their house. “Technically it isn't our tree, but if the city won't bother pruning its trees I'll just do it myself.” He looked at Seungkwan with a fatherly type of stare that was part amused at the way Seungkwan was awkwardly standing mute and part waiting for an explanation about why he was there in the first place.

“I was just, eh, leaving.” Seungkwan said.

“I can see that. But before you do, tell me something. Did you just sneak in or did you two sneak out together first?”

“N-no! I was somewhere else before but I-...I had a fight with my boyfriend and I just...”

Mingyu's father smiled at him with understanding, “Needed a shoulder to cry on?”

“Yeah...something like that.”

“Don't you want to stay for breakfast?

“No, thank you sir, that's alright. I really should be getting home.”

{Seungkwan's house}

He opened his front door and could hear his mother humming along to the radio in the living room. She looked up from her magazine when he walked in. “Aren't you home early? I was expecting you to stay at Hansol's at least until late afternoon.”

“Eh...we had a fight. But he's coming over to talk about it.”

She raised an eyebrow, “You had a fight so you went home, but he's already coming over to make up?”

“Yes.” Seungkwan got the feeling that she could sense that he wasn't telling the entire truth, but as long as she didn't ask him directly where he had been he wasn't going to say anything. This was more the type of thing you maybe tell your parents fifteen years into the future when enough time has passed for you to laugh about it together.

“Do you want to tell me what you fought about?”

“Not really...”

She closed the magazine and stood up. She ruffled his hair as she walked by. “I'm sure you'll work it out. If you don't want to talk about it, I'll be on my way soon. I'm meeting my friend for lunch. Tell Hansol he can stay for dinner if he wants.”

Seungkwan nodded and headed over to the bathroom. He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it in the hamper along with the rest of his clothes. After a very quick shower and brushing his teeth he headed over to his room where he went through his clothes trying to pick an outfit suited for making up with ones boyfriend. He still wasn't wearing a shirt when the door bell rang. “Shit” he muttered under his breath. He quickly put the shirt on that he currently had in his hand and that he had been contemplating about (he wasn't quite sure if a navy blue shirt looked apologetic enough) and hurried to the door.

It was as if opening the door let in an instant wave of awkward along with his boyfriend. Normally they would greet each other with a kiss, but now they just stood in the hallway, not looking directly at each other.

“Let's go to my room. My mom isn't home, so I guess we could sit in the living room, but I dunno...let's just go to my room.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Seungkwan sat down on the edge of his bed, but when Hansol didn't join him he stood up again. He knew he had to talk first. Hansol was already the one who contacted him and suggested they'd talk, but Seungkwan wasn't good at apologizing. He would get defensive too easily or try to lighten the mood with a joke at the wrong time. Still, it was a bullet he needed to bite. “I'm sorry. I-...I shouldn't have...but I watched you letting that girl grind all over you and I had some alcohol and-” He stopped. This wasn't an apology. He was making excuses. Or worse, placing some of the blame on Hansol. “What I mean is, I'm sorry that I tried to make you do something you weren't ready for and that I didn't listen to you. I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry that I-” He let out a shaky breath and blinked his eyes to try and prevent the tears in his eyes turning into actual crying. He felt pathetic. He couldn't even apologize right. “I'm sorry.” He mumbled again.

Hansol reach his hand out, but let it hang in the air, “Y-you don't have to cry. I'm not _that_ mad.”

Seungkwan sniffed and roughly wiped his eyes with the palm of his hand. “You were pretty mad...”

“Well, yeah, but...I don't want you to cry.” He finally let his hand reach Seungkwan. “Come. Let's sit.” He guided him to sit on the bed. He kept holding his hand lightly. “Yes, I was mad. I was still mad on my way over here actually. But I've calmed down now. You were just...one minute I'm dancing, the next you're trying to take my clothes off. It was all very sudden, Seungkwan.”

“I know...”

“And what do you mean I let that girl _grind all over me_? I know I'm not the best at controlling my own jealousy sometimes, but why would you get so upset over me simply dancing? Unless I'm remembering it wrong, she wasn't actually all that close. Was she?”

Seungkwan shrugged.

“Besides, it was right in front of you and you didn't even want to dance. Oh and I'm pretty sure this girl knew you and I were together. We were just dancing.”

“It wasn't just the dancing, okay? I started to get worried that you didn't really mean it when you said you wanted to take things slow or that you thought I was boring.”

“But babe, even if that were true do you think it's a good idea to just start yanking of my clothes?”

“No...”

“Maybe we should talk about these things more. I know I don't talk so much about it either, but maybe we should.”

Seungkwan bit his lower lip and nodded. “Are you still mad? I promise I won't do something like that again and next time we're at a party I'll totally dance with you.”

“Maybe we shouldn't go to any more parties for a while.” Hansol chuckled. He gently lifted Seungkwan's face, “I'm not mad anymore.” He leaned in for a kiss, but Seungkwan sank back.

“Wait...now that I've apologized could you maybe also admit that it wasn't very nice of you to just leave me in that bathroom and go home.”

Hansol pulled his hand back. “I was mad.”

“I know and I get that, but you just left me there half-naked and feeling stupid.”

“It wasn't my fault that you were half-naked...and I told Jeonghan to check on you.” Seungkwan stayed quiet. His face said that he was unconvinced, but also that he didn't want to argue again. Hansol sighed. “I promise I won't just take off if we ever fight again, okay?”

“Okay.”

Hansol let out a relieved sigh. Fighting with Seungkwan was the worst kind of feeling. “I couldn't sleep at all last night. How about you? When I left that party looked far from over. I don't think you could have gotten a lot of sleep even if we hadn't been fighting.”

“I didn't stay there. I didn't want to be there after you left and Jeonghan offered that Seungcheol drove me home. But I couldn't really go home because my mom thought I was over at your house. So I asked him to take me to Mingyu's house instead. I crashed there.”

“Oh...right. I just went home. I told my parents you weren't feeling very well...they think I'm over here now to check on you.”

Seungkwan clicked his tongue, “You'd leave me alone if I wasn't feeling well?” he said with faked disappointment.

“You're right. I should have just told them what really happened.” he replied with a teasing smile.

Immediately Seungkwan's face turned slightly red. He definitely did not want Hansol's parents to know what had really happened.

“So, ehm...now that we've made up. Can I kiss you?”

Seungkwan smiled. He welcomed Hansol's mouth with parted lips and was pleased when Hansol took that opportunity to quickly deepen their kiss. He didn't let it go on for long though. He leaned their foreheads together. “Hansol? You said we should maybe talk about things more, right? Well, there is one thing that I've been wondering about.”

“Yeah?” Hansol asked and he sat back, allowing enough distance for them to look at each other.

“This is super embarrassing to talk about, but...when we do _it_ , whenever that is going to be, how are we going to...I mean...what do you want to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, like, who will do what?”

“Oh. Oh you mean like...right. I, eh, I'm not sure.” Both of them had a blush on their cheeks, but at the same time they _wanted_ to talk about this. Yes, it was maybe a bit awkward to say it out loud, but besides it perhaps being better to have discussed this beforehand it was also something rather thrilling. “I know most people supposedly have a preference...” Hansol continued. “...but I just find it a bit hard to imagine which...role...I'd enjoy more. Can't we just try both?”

Seungkwan tangled one of their hands together. “You know, I was thinking the same thing. Oh, and, just to be clear. It was never my intention to go all the way yesterday. I just wanted to, like, take it to a next level. I really do think I'm ready for that, but I understand if you're not and that's totally fine. We'll wait.”

Hansol nodded. “How about for now I just kiss you again?” He connected their lips and untangled their fingers to use his hands to cup Seungkwan's face. He felt him shift his weight and slowly get on his back. Hansol followed. This was so much better than that bathroom yesterday. There was no rushing, no sudden pressure to want more and yet now, maybe he wanted a bit more.

“Seungkwan?” He asked in a whisper. His hand was resting on Seungkwan's hip and he slowly stroked the soft skin with his thumb. “What's a next level that isn't sex?”

“W-what?” Not a question Seungkwan had been expecting right now.

“When you said you wanted to take things to _a_ _next level,_ what did you have in mind?”

“Why are you asking this? I don't want you to feel like you have to want to do something more now just because I-”

“No, that's not it.” Hansol lay down on his side, and moved his hand from his hip, using it to caress his cheek now instead. “Baby, it's not that I don't want to try certain things. I just want to do them in a place where I feel comfortable and when we can take our time. Not in some dirty dorm bathroom when we're both slightly intoxicated and there's a party going on on the other side of the door. And it depends on what the certain things are.”

Seungkwan stared into Hansol's eyes trying to detect if he was just saying these things because he knew Seungkwan wanted to. “Well...” he started. “...we haven't done anything below the belt yet, “...and I've been wondering what your hand would feel like.”

“Oh...” It came out more as a breath that he had been holding than a reply. Hansol could have probably seen this coming, but hearing Seungkwan say it out loud was a new kind of feeling. One that lingered in the pit of his stomach like when you're waiting in line for a new rollercoaster that you haven't tried yet. Excited, but also nervous.

“Have you...” Seungkwan playfully ran his fingers over the back of Hansol's hand, “...thought about what my hand might feel like?”

Admittedly, he had. More than once. So he nodded.

Seungkwan shifted his position and also got on his side, facing him. Once again he tangled their fingers together. Their kisses now had a hint of desire mixed in with the slow sweetness of their movements. Hansol moved their hands to his side and pulled his fingers free, placing Seungkwan's hand on his hip. He left it there and got his own hand to explore underneath his boyfriend's shirt.

Very slowly Seungkwan started to move his fingers down. He freed the edge of Hansol's belt from its clasp and was about to open it up completely when he all of a sudden lost contact with Hansol's lips.

“Wait.”

Unlike yesterday Seungkwan immediately stopped and pulled his hand back. “I'm sorry, I thought that-”

“No, no, sorry, I'm not stopping you because I don't want to. I just really need to say something first.”

“Oh...What?”

Hansol suddenly looked nervous as if he was about to give a speech in front of hundreds of people. “I...I just want to say...that I love you.”

“Wow...” For a moment Seungkwan stared at him with his mouth hanging half open. ”You just took it to a whole new level.” A smile formed on his lips. “I love you, too.”

“You do?”

Seungkwan placed a gentle kiss on Hansol's lips. “Yeah, I do. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Seungkwan chuckled, “You already said that.”

“Yeah, but I don't know, it's kind of a rush to say it, don't you think?” He placed his hand on one of Seungkwan's round cheeks and pulled him in to continue where they had left off.

With his hand back on Hansol's half-opened belt once again, Seungkwan looked at him, “Can I?”

“Yeah.” Hansol's voice was only a whisper and he wasn't sure where to look as Seungkwan opened his jeans. He inhaled a shaky breath when the first contact was made.

Seungkwan kept his eyes on him. “Is this okay?”

Hansol couldn't get any words out, but he nodded. It took him a moment to let his body return to a more relaxed state, but he was starting to get used to the feeling of a hand that wasn't his own touching him there. “I have to say...this is a lot more embarrassing than I thought it would be. Like... _all_ the attention is on _me_. Can I...maybe?”

“Do you want to try doing it to each other at the same time?” Seungkwan suggested. He was blushing and he definitely felt a lot more nervous about Hansol touching him than about him touching Hansol, but the curiosity for his touch was bigger than his embarrassment.

Hansol bit his lower lip and nodded.

The angle was slightly awkward, their movements a bit clumsy and neither one of them had thought it all the way through, causing them to make a mess of Seungkwan's sheets, but it also felt good. It was familiar and yet completely new. When they both finished they couldn't help but let out a giggle type of laugh everytime their eyes met as they tried to get back into their pants.

“We should have used tissues or something.” Hansol said as he looked down at the bed.

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose, “Yeah.”

“You don't have to look so disgusted. Half of it is yours.”

“That doesn't make it better.” He stood up and gestured for Hansol to do the same so he could pull the sheet covers from his bed. When he straightened back up he felt Hansol press himself against his back and place his hands on his hips.

“I kinda can't believe we just did that.” he whispered in Seungkwan's ear. “It's so weird, because usually when I do it myself I think about you, but now you were right there and you were the one doing it.”

Seungkwan felt his face heat up way more than it had at any time that his hands had been on him. It was always when Hansol blatantly said things like this that the butterflies in his stomach really went to town.

Hansol turned him around in his arms and chuckled. “We literally just jerked each other off, why are you getting shy now, Boo?” He wrapped him tightly in his arms with the biggest smile on his face.

Seungkwan buried his face in Hansol's chest. “Shut up.” he mumbled, a hidden smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I don't know why but I really like writing Mingyu's dad, lol. He's such a...dad. I bet he tells dad jokes.  
> \- why is Seungkwan's mom so chill? haha  
> \- Hansol during the second half of this chapter: *nodding* (he was nervous ok! But don't worry, he didn't just do it to please Seungkwan. He wanted to try it too!)  
> \- The next level was 'I love you' can I hear an 'awwww'?


	43. HS2-13 Bad Headspace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taesung, the basketball team captain and known asshole, decides he wants Mingyu to join the team. He doesn't really get the concept of no means no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one turned out a lot longer than I had planned, but stuff happened, lol.

“Pick up the pace, ladies! It's not Winter break yet, so stop slacking off!”

“You know...” Hyunggu said slightly out of breath as he was running along side Seungkwan, “...I'm _really_ getting tired of this guy. He has us running this many laps, for what? Fucking sadist.”

“Meanwhile _he's_ the one not even running. All Taesung does is yell and blame us if we lose.” Seungkwan joined in their, now usual, complaining about their captain.

Hansol, who was running right behind the two of them, hardly engaged in the conversation. He knew Seungkwan needed this to vent and he really didn't want him to get so fed up with Taesung that he would quit the basketball club. Where-else could he shamelessly stare at his boyfriend's butt without the others around them noticing. As far as they knew he was just running and Seungkwan just happened the be running in front of him.

They finally finished the bazillion laps Taesung had wanted them to run ( _after_ their regular practice) and walked over to where their water bottles were. “Here.” Hyunggu said and he handed Seungkwan his bottle.

“Thanks.” Seungkwan took a sip and offered the bottle to Hansol.

He took it from him, but he had half an eye on Hyunggu. He'd picked up a towel and playfully dropped it on Seungkwan's head, laughing at the cute sight he had created when Seungkwan pouted at him with an angry frown. Didn't he tell this guy Seungkwan is straight? Why was he still hovering around him like a bee to a pot of honey? Although, he couldn't really blame him.

“Boo!” Taesung yelled from where he was standing a few meters away. “Come here!”

Seungkwan clicked his tongue, “Now what?” Reluctantly he walked over, towel around his neck. “Yes?”

“You're friends with that Mingyu guy, right?” He nodded his head in the direction of the bleachers where Mingyu, Wonwoo and Seokmin were sitting. He and Hansol had plans to go catch a movie with the two other couples after this, but since they and Jaehyun had basketball first they had decided to hang around the gym to wait and watch them practice.

“Eh, yeah. Why?” Already he didn't like where this was going.

“We need to increase our member count so we have more alternatives. Get him to join the team. He's tall and-”

“I don't think so.” Seungkwan cut him off right away. “He doesn't like basketball.”

“Just ask him.”

Seungkwan could tell Taesung was annoyed at the fact that he hadn't immediately agreed with him, but he wasn't about to budge. “I already know his answer.”

“Fine. _I'll_ ask him. You're so fucking useless.”

“I'm telling you there's no point in-” But Taesung was already making his way over to them.

Mingyu's eyes tried to connect with Seungkwan once he realized that the basketball captain was coming over and seemed to have something to say, but his field of vision got blocked by Taesung as he stopped in front of him. Mingyu didn't say anything, he just looked up. Somehow he already knew what he was about to say and he didn't want to hear it.

“We could use some new blood in the team.”

It wasn't even a question. “I, eh-” Mingyu stammered. “I'm not-”

“Just join and I'll make sure you catch up with the rest.”

“Really I don't even really like basketball, I just...”

Wonwoo looked up from his homework that was scattered all over the seats one row behind from where Mingyu was sitting. He exchanged a look with Seokmin who wasn't sure what was going on. Mingyu looked like he had shrunk two heads since this conversation had started.

“If you hate basketball so much why are you always hanging around?”

“T-to support my friends.”

“You can support them more by joining the team.”

“Really I wouldn't be of any use. I'm not good at it and-”

“You can't be that bad and you have the build for it.”

“He said he's not interested.” Seungkwan spoke up from behind him. Normally Seungkwan was pretty good at keeping his dislike of Taesung at manageable levels as not to let it interfere with club activities, but he saw what this conversation was doing to his best friend. It was most likely bringing back memories form the last time someone had asked him to join a basketball team and he hadn't exactly been in a good head space back then.

Taesung turned his head to glare at Seungkwan. He looked back at Mingyu and scoffed. “You know what, never mind. I don't think I could deal with having another one of Seungkwan's queer little lady friends on the team anyway.”

It all happened so fast. Mingyu jumped up, grabbed Taesung and roughly threw him down against the bleachers. He didn't look scared and small anymore. He looked extremely angry. Before anyone could come between them Taesung had gotten back up and grabbed a fist full of Mingyu's shirt. “What the hell is wrong with you, asshole? What? Are you angry I insulted your boyfriend. Is that it? Do you always come here to stare at Seungkwan's fat ass? Are you just a homo like him?”

Mingyu pushed him off and followed up by a punch to the face. One that was immediately reciprocated by Taesung. Both of them got a few more hits and smacks in before some of the other students and the P.E. teacher, who had been sitting in his office at the back, managed to pull them apart.

<>

Their teacher had told Seungkwan to shower and to report to the principal's office in case he wanted to question him about the fight. He followed those directions. Sort of. After showering as fast as he could, he hurried to the nurse's office. Inside he found Wonwoo holding an ice pack to Mingyu's right cheekbone. Wonwoo smiled a weak smile when he saw Seungkwan, but Mingyu averted his eyes.

Seungkwan wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't tell if Mingyu was still angry, ashamed or something else. He wasn't used to seeing Mingyu blow up the way that he had. Stand-offish and cold, yes, but never so angry. It made him think that he could understand why other students might have been scared of him. “What's going on now? Where's Taesung?”

“Principal's office.” Wonwoo answered. “Telling his side of the story, I guess. They told Mingyu to wait here. Until his parents get here. I already talked with the principal.”

“Oh...what did you say?”

“That Taesung was provoking him, but that I didn't see who threw the first punch.”

Seungkwan bit his lower lip. That wasn't true, of course. Well, the first punch part wasn't anyway. “I'll wait here too.”

“Don't you have to study?” Mingyu mumbled in Wonwoo's direction.

“It can wait. Now hold your head still.”

<>

In the end Seungkwan's talk with the principal was short and he ended up telling him the same thing Wonwoo had. Taesung was pestering Mingyu and wouldn't leave him alone, he didn't know exactly how the fight had started.

Now he, together with Hansol, Wonwoo, Seokmin and Jaehyun, was waiting in the hallway for Mingyu and his father to come out. When they did, however, Mingyu walked right passed them. Seungkwan wanted to follow, but was stopped by Mingyu's father calling his name. He let Wonwoo go after Mingyu and he went to his father instead.

Mr. Kim sighed. “Can you tell me what happened, Seungkwan? I know Mingyu wasn't telling the whole story in there.”

“It wasn't Mingyu's fault, Mr. Kim. Honestly! Taesung is an obnoxious bully and he was harassing Mingyu and-”

“Harassing? Harassing how?”

“He tried to get him to join the basketball team. I already told him that he wouldn't want to, but he kept pushing and...”

“That's not a reason to punch someone. Look, Seungkwan, we've been down this road with Mingyu before, but I thought we were finally done with this kind of behavior. He seemed so much better now. So if there is anything more to this story, please tell me.”

“Taesung...he got mad that Mingyu didn't want to join the team and he asked Mingyu if the reason he comes to watch us practice is to stare at my ass and if he is a homo like me...”

“He used those words?”

Seungkwan nodded, “Well actually he said my _fat_ ass...”

Mingyu's father sighed and rubbed his neck, “Alright. Thank you for telling me, Seungkwan. He still shouldn't have gotten into a fight, but at least now I know where he was coming from.” He stared down the hallway, but Mingyu was already gone. “The principal has labeled it as a boys being boys that got a bit out of hand sort of thing and as punishment is making them clean the gym together...I'd wait for him to finish, but I really must get back to the office. His mother is taking care of her parents today, so she couldn't come.”

Seungkwan looked at Mingyu's father and more than angry at his son for getting into a fight he looked worried for him.

“Don't worry, Mr. Kim. I'll wait for him. Taesung hasn't ever really interacted with Mingyu before, so it's probably just a one time thing.”

<>

Seungkwan and Wonwoo were sitting on the floor, backs against the wall, right outside the gym. The others had gone home after the principal told them to stop loitering. While Seungkwan was exchanging some messages with Hansol and doing a tiny bit of homework here and there, Wonwoo was once again surrounded by a stack of books, notes and other papers.

Wonwoo was unable to suppress a long yawn and he took a moment to crack his neck. Seungkwan looked at him and noticed just how tired he looked. He knew Wonwoo always studied a lot, but lately that was all he seemed to be doing. “Are you okay? No offense, but you look kind of exhausted.”

Wonwoo inhaled deeply to get some oxygen in his body, “To tell you the truth, I _am_ kind of exhausted. But it is what it is.”

“I though you wanted to go to the same college Jeonghan is at? He didn't study this hard.”

“Yeah, well, he wasn't trying to get into one of their honor programs.”

“Rest is important too! You don't want to fry your brain and render it useless.”

Wonwoo shook his head, “If I start taking it easy now the only thing that will be rendered useless is all the work I've been putting in up to this point. No, I just need to push through and I'll be fine.”

“If you say so...”

Wonwoo focused back on his books and Seungkwan stared at the gym doors. He was glad the P.E. teacher was in there with them, but he couldn't imagine that being forced to clean an entire gym together with the guy that just pushed all your wrong buttons was a treat. He went to his Pinterest and made a new board named _Stuff to give you_ _Happy Feels_. He made it private and invited Mingyu to it. He went on to fill the board with pictures of things that he knew Mingyu loved. Puppies, food, his favorite actors looking hot. He was still finding more pictures to add when he noticed Wonwoo hands, that had been frantically flipping through pages and writing stuff down, were sagging down slowly. Seungkwan looked to the side and saw Wonwoo had his eyes almost completely closed and his head was starting to lean in Seungkwan direction. He lowered himself a little bit so Wonwoo's head could fall down on his shoulder more comfortably. He himself wasn't all that tired, but he didn't want to move and accidentally wake him and eventually he let his head rest on Wonwoo's and his eyes fell shut.

They were woken up by the sound of Mingyu clearing his throat. He didn't look all that grateful that they had been waiting for him.

“Why are you still here?” He asked with a face darker than a thundercloud.

“To wait for you obviously. You're welcome.” Seungkwan replied with sarcasm. He was just woken up from his nap and momentarily forgot he was there to support his friend, not bicker with him.

Wonwoo yawned and blinked his eyes slowly a few times. “What's going on?” He looked up at his boyfriend. “Oh, you're finished? How was it?”

Mingyu scoffed, “I just spent two hours cleaning the gym with the biggest asshole at this school, so not exactly great. But I didn't punch him again, if that's what you mean.”

“I was just asking to make sure you're okay.” Wonwoo replied as he got up and held out his hand to pull Seungkwan up too.

“Okay? No, I'm not fucking okay.” He kicked the wall with such force and anger that it made Seungkwan and Wonwoo flinch. “I'm sure that by now half the school already knows I got into a fight and the rest will find out soon enough when they see my fucked up face. Then the rumors are going to start again. People will start avoiding me, looking at me like I could stab them at any moment.” He looked at Seungkwan. His eyes no longer looked angry, instead they were filled with something best described as fear. “Even you will stop being my friend.” He turned to Wonwoo. “And you're going to dump me, so you might as well stop with the nice things like waiting for me here and get it over with.”

“Are you done?” Wonwoo's face didn't read angry or hurt. He looked at his boyfriend with a sense of unimpressed stoicism. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Seungkwan befriend you amidst all the rumors surrounding you? And do you really think I'd dump you because _other_ people have the wrong idea about you? Give me some credit, Mingyu.”

“Y-you don't understand. It was much worse at my old school! I-...I don't want to be alone again.” His shoulders slumped down as if there was an invisible weight pressing them down.

“And you won't be.” Seungkwan took a step closer. “Like Wonwoo said, even if some of the other students start acting weird around you again, you have us. And Hansol, Seokmin, Jihoon, Chan. Jeonghan and Jisoo in spirit. You have to trust that you have us, okay?”

Mingyu sniffed and nodded. “Can someone hug me, please?”

They ended up with all three of them together in one hug. “I'm sorry if I scared you guys before. I didn't mean to get so angry. I wasn't angry at you.” He said and held on tighter.

“We know.”

From behind them came a loud scoff, “Fags.”

They all looked up and, unsurprisingly, it was Taesung. He looked the three of them up and down with disgust on his face before he scoffed again and turned around.

Seungkwan had grabbed hold of the back of Mingyu's coat to make sure he wasn't going to lose his cool again, but he wasn't showing any sign of it. Instead it was Wonwoo who made his opinion know.

“At least I'm not some idiot virgin lowlife who is going to be miserable for the rest of his life because his dick is so small he can't even satisfy the crusty old sock he jerks off in at night.”

Seungkwan and Mingyu stared at Wonwoo, then at each other and back to Wonwoo. Taesung was already too far to have heard what he said, but it still left them with their mouths hanging open.

“That was you, right? _You_ just said that?” Mingyu asked, astonished by the words that had come out of his boyfriend's mouth just now.

It was quiet for another second before all three of them burst out into laughter. Only to be interrupted by their P.E. teacher who told them to get out of there.

“Anyway...” Mingyu let them go and shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. “...I guess I'll go home and get yelled at.”

“I wouldn't worry so much about that.” Seungkwan said. “Your dad came to me after you talked with the principal. He asked me what really happened, because he didn't want to believe you would just punch Taesung for no good reason. I told him what Taesung said to you...”

“Oh...”

“I'm sorry if you didn't want your dad to know, but I think he just wants to know what's going on with you.”

“It's fine. I guess I kind of owe it to my parents to tell them the truth anyway. They've been really great after I came out to them.”

“Thanks by the way...I know it's probably not the only reason you punched him, but he said some mean things about me and-”

“Yeah, well...it pissed me off.”

“Really,” Wonwoo added, “Don't let that guy make you insecure about your butt, Seungkwan. It's a great ass.”

“Seriously, what is with you today?” Mingyu asked with a chuckle.

Wonwoo shrugged. “I'm still half asleep I think.”

Seungkwan swung his back over his shoulder. “Don't worry Wonwoo. One comment from a jerk like him isn't enough to erase all the praise my ass has gotten from Jeonghan. Now let's get out of here. I've had enough school for one day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things I wanted to show with this chapter:
> 
> -Hyunggu is still friendly with Seungkwan (Hansol seems to have trouble thinking that maybe he just wants to be friends or maybe Hyunggu didn't really believe Hansol when he said he was straight.)  
> -Mingyu still has hurt inside him :( and Taesung triggered it  
> -I also wanted to show some Seungkwan and Wonwoo together. They've become closer friends and not just two people whose only link is Mingyu (also...I love WonBoo buddies T__T)  
> -Mingyu's dad is going to be one of those dads who gives hugs at Pride to all the people who were rejected by their parents T___T


	44. HS2-14 Ice Skating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all meet up to go ice skating. Jihoon reluctantly shares about his love life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfff I don't know what this chapter was supposed to be, but this is what it is. lol. My brain just keeps coming up with other fic ideas and I'm having trouble focusing :/ (and I finished a GOT7 fic I hadn't updated in close to two years, hahahaha...ha)

As it turned out Mingyu's worries hadn't been needed. Apart from some of Taesung's buddies, nobody seemed that bothered by their fight. Nobody suddenly shied away from him or looked at him with fear. If anything, people seemed to understand the feeling of wanting to punch Taesung in the face. Chan had even told them that he overheard a few boys in his class talk about it and now they thought Mingyu was 'all cool or whatever' as he put it. As for the basketball club, Taesung wasn't kicked out, but their principal had decided he should no longer be captain. Jaehyun had agreed to take over. Since their winter break had just started a few days ago, they'd have to wait to see how that was going to work out. But for now things felt like they had calmed down again.

They were all waiting in front of the ice skating rink downtown for Jeonghan and Jisoo to arrive. It had been what felt like forever since they had all hung out together at the same time and Seungkwan had been looking forward to it all week. Especially after all the drama, he could really use a day surrounded by the people he felt most at home with. He looked at Jaehyun and Seokmin standing close together, sharing Seokmin's earphones and bobbing their heads along to whatever music they were listening to. That was when Seungkwan realized something. “Chan,” he spoke up, “I know you're not into guys, but it looks like you're going to have to be Jihoon's date. You're the only single ones here today.”

“Who says I'm single?” Jihoon replied without looking up from his phone.

“Ehm...aren't you?” Mingyu asked carefully. Jihoon wasn't an open book like some of them were and it took a bit of effort to get a glimpse at the pages inside.

Jihoon shrugged, “Not really.”

“What does that mean? How are you ' _not really_ ' single?” Seungkwan narrowed his eyes at him.

“I'm just sort of seeing someone. But me and Chan can still be the extra wheels to this date fest. I don't think he'd want to hang out with a bunch of high school kids anyway.”

“ _You're_ a high school kid.”

“Barely.”

“Does that mean _he_ isn't in high school?” Wonwoo inquired.

“He's a senior...”

“Oh, so why wouldn't he want to hang out with-”

“...in college.”

It was quiet and looks were exchanged. It was Seungkwan who asked what most of them were thinking. “So, eh...you started dating him after you turned eighteen, right?”

Jihoon finally lowered his phone and stared back. “He's not some perv if that's what you're trying to say. He's only four years older than me. Almost exactly actually. His birthday is only a few days apart from mine. It's only been a few weeks anyway.”

“Still...” Seungkwan mumbled and he started chewing his lip. He didn't want to upset his friend, but he couldn't help but wanting to know more about this guy.

“I think we need to see pictures.” Chan took a step closer and pretended to have a look at Jihoon's screen.

Jihoon furrowed his brows together, “Why?”

“To see what this guy looks like! We need some proof that he isn't a creep. How did you even meet him?” Mingyu peeked over Chan's shoulder, but Jihoon had his phone pressed to his chest.

“How does a picture of him prove anything?”

“Do you have one or not?”

He clicked his tongue, but caved anyway. “Fine. Wait a sec.” He started scrolling through his photos. “Hmm, can't show you that one...no...definitely not that one. OK, this one is alright I guess.” He held up his phone and showed them a picture of him together with a tall young man in what looked like a dorm room. They were both smiling and making a peace sign to the camera. There was a keyboard in the background. “We're both into music...” Jihoon explained, “So we just talk about music and make some music and...you know.”

Seungkwan let out a dramatic sigh, “Would it kill you to let your friends know when you get a boyfriend?”

Jihoon shrugged again and shoved his phone in his pocket. He nodded his head in the direction opposite him. “They're here.”

“Hey guys! I hope you don't mind we brought Seungcheol.” Jeonghan said and he dragged the man in question closer. “His parents are on ski vacation so he was all sad and lonely at the dorms otherwise.”

“You're making me sound pathetic.”

Jeonghan started greeted all of them with hugs. (except Jaehyun who he didn't really know all that well). Jisoo was more of a handshake, pat on the shoulder type of guy, but he didn't mind his friends pulling him closer.

Jihoon ran a hand through Jeonghan's hair when he approached him for a hug. “Your hair is so long now. Are you growing it out?”

Jeonghan nodded proudly. “I've actually wanted to try it for years, but I was always afraid it would make me look too girly.”

“I think it looks _hot_.” Jisoo said and he looked at Jeonghan as if he was ready to devour him right then and there.

Jeonghan's lips curled up into a smirk, “I know you do.”

“Okay...shall we go skate before these two melt the ice with their sexual tension?” Seungcheol laughed and the others agreed. Seungkwan wanted to hook his arm with Hansol's but he felt a tug on his arm pulling him back.

“What do you think?” Jeonghan asked and he nodded his head in the direction of Seungcheol walking next to Jihoon.

Seungkwan wasn't sure what he was supposed to give his opinion about.

Jeonghan sighed, “Seungcheol and Jihoon. Don't you think they'd be cute together? Cheol has dropped a few hints that he didn't exactly mind seeing Hoonie at that party and seeing as Jihoon slapped him on the ass I figured it was worth a shot to get them to hang out together and see what happens.”

Seungkwan gave him an apologetic look, “I hate to break it to you, but literally just before you guys got here he told us he's dating some college dude.”

“What!?” Jeonghan yelled, immediately followed by a groan. “I really wish I'd know about that sooner. I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up.”

“You didn't tell Seungcheol that you brought him here to fix him up with Jihoon, did you?”

“I'm not stupid, Seungkwan.” Jeonghan sighed. “Well, doesn't matter now I guess. We can still have fun together.” He happily took Seungkwan by the hand and they walked over to the skate rental. “I've missed you, Kwannie. Tell me, how are things with you and Hansol now?” he asked while putting on their skates. They were the last ones and the rest was already making their way onto the ice.

Seungkwan looked over at his boyfriend who was like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time and a smile crept on his face. “Yeah, we're good. We're really good.”

“Did you have sex yet?”

Seungkwan scrunched his face and glared at him, “I don't have to tell you that.”

“So, no.”

<>

Luckily for the ones without a date the couples weren't as clingy as they could have been. Of course Seungkwan made sure to skate around while holding Hansol's hand, but he also spent a good amount of time cracking up with Seokmin and almost falling over from laughter, trying to skate better than Mingyu and catching up with Jisoo.

After their legs couldn't stand being on skates any longer they moved to a Korean barbeque restaurant to get some food in their stomachs. Jeonghan took the opportunity to grill Jihoon about his college bae.

“Now, Hoonie. What's this I hear about you dating a college man?”

“A _senior_.” Seungkwan added.

Jihoon shrugged. “I met him at your party, actually. Well, the next morning anyway.”

“You did?” Seungcheol was the one to ask. “I mean...I didn't think you really talked to anyone.”

Jihoon lifted an eyebrow, “What do you mean? Did _we_ even talk? Sorry, the details are a bit fuzzy.”

“Oh my god, Jihoon, you even slapped his-”

“You kind of passed out or fell asleep anyway. I put you on a couch to sleep. I checked and you were still there when the party had died down. The next morning too...I mean...you were still sleeping when I got up and I had to leave after that.”

“Oh, eh...” Jihoon poked at his food, “...thanks for that.”

Seungkwan leaned in to whisper to Jeonghan. “Yeah, okay, I see what you mean.”

“Anyway, I ran into him on my way out. He dropped his guitar down the stairs and it sort of landed on me. He's kind of clumsy. He offered me coffee to make up for it and that's pretty much it.”

Mingyu let out a sigh that equal to Seungkwan levels of dramatics, “Why is such a cute story wasted on someone as unromantic as Jihoon.”

“What's romantic about someone dropping their guitar on me? Those things aren't light, you know.”

Mingyu gestured with his hand and looked around the table with a ' _see? This is what I mean'_ kind of look.

<>

Hansol had his arm around Seungkwan's shoulder as he leaned into him. The food had all been eaten, but they stayed and talked for a while longer. Seungkwan had tuned out of the conversation and was playing with Hansol's fingers. “You've been a bit quiet tonight.” Seungkwan said, only for him to hear. “Everything okay?”

Hansol wrapped his other arm around Seungkwan as well and pulled him closer. “I'm just enjoying this. You normally don't want to get so close in public.”

Seungkwan shrugged and let his head fall back. With all the skating and socializing he was feeling pretty tired and he couldn't be bothered to care about being in public. “Do you remember last year around this time?” he asked.

“Hm?” Hansol hummed. “You mean when we went to the arcade together? Yeah, I remember.” How could he forget? It was one of the first moments that he had started to realize he liked Seungkwan as more than a friend. He still had the scarf Seungkwan had given him that time. He never wore it, but he knew exactly where in his closet it was. He wondered if Seungkwan even remembered giving it to him.

“We should go to an arcade again sometime. That was fun.”

Hansol leaned his chin on Seungkwan's soft hair, “Sure. Whatever you want.”

Seungkwan tried and failed to hold in a yawn. Not long after that they decided to call it a night. Outside the restaurant hugs, handshakes and the likes were exchanged and they fell apart in small groups and couples. Hansol walked Seungkwan to the bus stop. He had offered to ride him home on his bicycle, but Seungkwan said it was too cold.

“Don't fall asleep on the bus, okay?” Hansol said and booped his boyfriend's nose.

Seungkwan wiggled his nose and looked at him with drowsy eyes. “I'll text you when I get home.” He smiled a lazy smile at him. “I love you.”

Hansol nodded, “Please do. And I love you, too.” He didn't want him to go. He didn't want to ride home and get in his cold bed without him. But he knew Seungkwan had plans with his mother tomorrow and he didn't want to impose, so he didn't ask Seungkwan to spend the night together. Instead he let go of his hand and watched him get on the bus.

He followed the bus with his eyes and as he saw it disappear from sight he felt something in his stomach. Like a flutter. A feeling that wasn't entirely new. _I should buy condoms_ he thought to himself. He stepped onto his bike and started his ride home through the cold evening air. His head still filled with thoughts of Seungkwan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I wasn't planning on having Seungcheol back so soon, but suddenly there he was~  
> -Is it obvious who Jihoon's college boyfriend/hook-up is? (just to be clear: yes he was already 18, I dunno how people feel about the difference in age, 4 years isn't so much tbh, but the college/high school thing...hmmm...I think it depends on each situation.) HINT: he already dated another member of the same group, lol. I think it's clear if you know the picture I was talking about.  
> -So...Hansol feels like he needs to buy condoms (guess he doesn't know about the one Seungkwan keeps in his wallet)
> 
> Next time: Seungkwan is over at Hansol's house and his parents go out to dinner...


	45. HS2-15 Maybe we could...you know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol wasn't planning for anything to happen this night. But he had sort of forgotten his parents were going to be out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think happy thoughts~

It was the last Saturday of the their winter break and the last day they could actually spend together since Hansol and his sister were supposed to visit their grandparents the next day. Unfortunately, there was still homework to be finished and Seungkwan had come over to finish the last of it together. That is to say, Seungkwan mostly helped Hansol finish his homework.

“Why did you put it off until the last minute? If you had just followed my advice of doing a little bit everyday...” Seungkwan said after another loud sigh from his boyfriend.

“Why do we even have homework anyway. Isn't this _vacation_?”

“I know it sucks, but after this we're done and we can do something else.”

”Like...making out on my bed?” Since that day where they had gone ice skating Hansol had worked up the courage to ride his bike to a store far away from his house and tried to act as casual as possible while buying some condoms. He had hidden them in a deep dark corner of his closet with the exception of the one stuffed under his mattress. It didn't mean that he was impatiently looking for any opportunity to actually use it. He wanted the moment to be right and the right moment hadn't presented itself yet. This wasn't likely to become one either. Not with his parents right downstairs.

Seungkwan's eyes darted over to Hansol's bedroom door. Whenever he came over, his parents made them leave it open just a little bit. Just enough for them to feel discouraged to take any clothes off. “I was thinking more along the lines of watching a movie in the living room.”

“Fine. I guess that's fun too.”

<>

“See you later, boys. We left you some dinner in the kitchen. Just warm it up and you're good to go.” Mr. Chwe spoke as put on his coat.

“What do you mean? Where are you going?” Hansol sat up and looked over the back of the couch.

His father sighed, “Why does our son never listen to me?” He said dramatically to his wife and Seungkwan chuckled. “I've told you that we're going out to dinner with some friends. We'll probably be out most of the night.”

His parents left and with the sound of the door falling shut Hansol had lost all interest in the movie. How could he have forgotten that his parents would go out tonight? He glanced to the side to peek at his boyfriend who showed no signs of having the same thoughts as him. “My sister is over at a friend.” He said, hoping he sounded casual.

Seungkwan hummed in response, focused more on the movie than on what his boyfriend was saying.

“What I mean is...we're alone in the house right now.”

“So?”

Hansol looked away again. “Nevermind. I'm hungry. How about we eat that food my parents left us?” He didn't have the guts to just flat out say what he meant. He needed Seungkwan to pick up on his hints and he clearly wasn't. Maybe after dinner.

<>

Hansol set his empty plate down on the coffee table and scooted closer. He waited for Seungkwan to finish his food and he gently took his plate from him and put it down as well. He stared at him and hoped his eyes were conveying his intent better than his words had. His eyes darted down to Seungkwan's lips and Seungkwan stared back with a half confused look on his face. Hansol was clearly about to kiss him, so why was he being weird about it?

Hansol leaned in and pressed his lips, that Seungkwan was more than willing to receive, on his mouth. Gentle yet firm. He raised his hand and let it hesitantly hang in the air for a moment before placing it on Seungkwan's shoulder. He pushed a little to signal that he meant to move into a more horizontal position.

Seungkwan couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but the way Hansol was kissing and touching him felt different from usual. More careful, a bit nervous even. He broke their kiss and stared into his eyes. That was when his brain finally caught on what Hansol had been trying to say before. “So...when you said we were alone...did you mean to suggest that we could...you know?”

“Well...I thought maybe we could...you know.”

“Like... _you know_ you know?”

Hansol nodded. He leaned in closer. “I'm ready.” He whispered against Seungkwan's slightly parted lips.

Seungkwan felt his heart climbing up to his throat as Hansol started kissing him again. Without making it feel like he was pushing him away he sat up. He stared at him silently for a moment before he looked down to find his hand and took it in his own. He stood up and started to walk towards the stairs. They journeyed the short distance to Hansol's bedroom in complete silence.

Seungkwan sat down on the edge of Hansol's bed, still holding his hand and looking up at him. Hansol joined him on the bed and they started kissing again. It didn't take long before Seungkwan decided to kick it up a notch. He swung his leg over Hansol's lap and sat up to straddle him, immediately finding the heat of his mouth again.

Hansol tugged a little on Seungkwan's shirt. “Okay?” he mumbled in between kisses. Seungkwan leaned back and pulled his shirt over his head himself and threw it to the back of Hansol's bed. He took hold of the sides of his face and they were fused together again. He felt a hand on his hip suggest that he move from Hansol's lap and further onto the bed and he did just that. He got down on his back and waited for Hansol to take his own shirt off and join him.

But somewhere between losing the rest of their clothes and Hansol pulling out the condom from under his mattress the mood had slowly started to shift from romantic and exciting to clumsy and nervous.

“Can't you just try putting it in or something?” Hansol whispered in a somewhat strained voice as Seungkwan hovered over him.

“I cannot just ' _put it in_ ', Hansol!” Seungkwan snapped back, “First of all, I'm not even wearing a condom yet. Second of all, the websites all said that we have to take our time to-” He stopped talking and pressed his lips together, realizing that he had said more than he had wanted to.

“What websites?” Hansol asked, propping himself up on his elbows. He was surprised at himself for feeling so calm, but the calmer he felt the less calm Seungkwan seemed.

“Nothing!” Seungkwan sighed and sank back onto his legs. He pulled the blankets up around him to cover part of his body, “Okay, fine. I've been reading a lot about how to have sex and what to do and what not to do. After that debacle in the bathroom I wanted to be more prepared, but I think it's just making me stress out about it.”

“Seungkwan...” Hansol sat up as well and reached for his boyfriend's hand, “Babe, if you're this stressed about it maybe we shouldn't...I mean, I'm nervous too, but more in an anticipating kind of way. It's okay if you've changed your mind about being ready, you know.”

Seungkwan lowered his gaze, but looked up when Hansol stroked his cheek. “I'm sorry. I really do want to...I do. Can we maybe try getting the mood back and I'll try not to think about it too much.”

Hansol smiled at him. “Sure.” He placed his fingers at the back of Seungkwan's neck and guided him back to his lips. But just as things started to heat up again there came some noise from downstairs.

Seungkwan pulled away, staying close, “Did you hear something?” he whispered.

Hansol concentrated and focused on any sound coming from outside the bedroom. Suddenly his eyes widened, “Oh shit! I think it's my parents!?”

Seungkwan jolted upright, “What!? I thought they'd be out all night!”

“That's what my dad said! I don't know either! Shit.”

“We have to get dressed!” Seungkwan said as he climbed off the bed in a rush.

Both of them did their best to try and break the world record of putting on clothes, but Seungkwan ran into some trouble.

“Hurry!” Hansol half-whispered in his direction as he made an attempt to fix his, undoubtedly, messed up hair.

“I am hurrying! I can't find my fucking shirt!”

“Here!” Hansol grabbed a random hoodie hanging over his desk chair and threw it in his boyfriend's direction, “Just wear this!”

He had just managed to pull it over his head when there was a knock on the door.

“Boys?” It was Hansol's mother, “Are you in there?”

“Y-yeah, mom. We're just...we were just...”

“Playing a game!” Seungkwan finished, his voice a lot more shrill than you'd want it to be in such a situation..

The door opened and Hansol's mother stood in the doorway. She gave her son a ' _why was this door closed, young man!_ ' look _,_ but she didn't say it. Instead she asked them what game they had been playing.

“Just a computer-” Hansol started, but all of the eyes in the room darted over to the black screen of his computer and the room was silent again.

“Well, eh, we first played a computer game.” Seungkwan attempted to fix the situation, “But then we, eh, played a different game. Do you know twenty questions? Yeah, we were playing twenty questions.” He let out a nervous little laugh.

“SO...mom...you're home early, aren't you?” It was Hansol's attempt to change the subject, but it only made it more obvious that they hadn't been expecting them yet.

“One of our friends didn't feel very well, so we cut the evening a bit short.”

“Oh!” Hansol exclaimed suddenly and Seungkwan looked at him with wide eyes, not sure what he was going to say “We totally forgot to clean up downstairs. We'll do it right now.” He grabbed Seungkwan's hand and started dragging him towards the door in the hopes of escaping this awkwardness, but they were stopped by his mother.

“It's getting kind of late. How about your dad gives Seungkwan a ride home?”

“That's okay! I'll take the bus.”

“Really, it's no trouble. It's much faster by car. He's going to pick up your sister anyway.” That last part was directed at Hansol. “Don't forgot you're going to-”

“Visit grandma and grandpa tomorrow. Yeah, I know.”

{in the car}

“So? Did you enjoy dinner?”

“Y-yes, it was very good. How was the dinner with your friends?” The adrenaline was still rushing through Seungkwan's veins and riding in the car with his boyfriend's father right after they almost got caught about ten seconds away from losing their virginities wasn't the best way to calm down.

“The food was great, but dinner was unfortunately much shorter than we had planned. Sorry we came home early and interrupted your evening.”

Seungkwan was grateful that there was only a dim light in the car, because his face heated up and it was mostly redder than a ripe tomato. “We weren't doing anything!”

Hansol's father chuckled, “Now, now, I heard you were playing twenty questions.”

Seungkwan pushed himself back into the car seat in an attempt to shrink away. It was clear that he wasn't angry or upset and in a way Seungkwan felt grateful that he was joking around, but he still wanted the car seat to turn into a black hole and transport him to another dimension right about now.

When they reached his house he thanked him for the ride and went inside. He greeted his mom, but didn't hang around the living room to talk. He just wanted to get to bed as fast as possible. He was brushing his teeth and looking at himself in the mirror when he realized he was still wearing Hansol's hoodie. It wasn't something Seungkwan normally would wear. Although he loved the deep Navy color, one of the sleeves was red and it just wasn't really his style. He spit into the sink and rinsed his mouth. He lifted the hoodie to his nose and inhaled Hansol's scent that still lingered. A smile crept onto his face. He climbed into bed with nothing but his boxers and the hoodie on. He checked his phone.

**Hansollie:** u home? How was my dad?

**Hansollie:** hellooo?

**Kwannie:** Yeah, home sorry. He was nice...I wanted to die tho. Did ur mom say anything?

**Hansollie:** Weirdly no...

Seungkwan stared at the screen. He wasn't sure what to say next. Were they supposed to talk about how they almost had sex? It seemed weird to do that over text.

**Kwannie:** Have fun at your grandparents tomorrow

**Hansollie:** tnx! You have fun with the guys! Send me pics?

**Kwannie:** Will do! Good night...I love you

**Hansollie:** love you too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So they didn't...you know, but they got very close ^^" 
> 
> -It's not that Seungkwan didn't want to anymore, he just got in his head too much  
> -The hoodie will actually come back at some point waaaaay into the future (like...if you stick with this story until then and remember the hoodie I'll bake you cookies...well...I don't have an oven...I'll buy and eat cookies in your honor)


	46. HS2-16 A walk in the park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan and Mingyu take a walk in the park and talk about a few things. Such as...how it went over at Hansol's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one is a bit short and maybe feels like a filler, but...I needed some Boogyu interaction :3

It was a cold day out, but that hadn't stopped Seungkwan and Mingyu from taking a detour on their way to where they were meeting up with Seokmin and Jihoon. They bought some cheese dogs from a street vendor and strolled through the park while munching on their snack. There was just something nice about eating hot food out in the cold. As long as they didn't tell Jihoon that they had food without him, they could be a little late.

“So...” Mingyu said with a mouth full of half-chewed food, “...you went over to Hansol's house yesterday, right? Were his parents home?”

Seungkwan looked at him and his face that feigned innocence. He knew what he was _really_ trying to ask. “Eh...they went out for dinner.”

“I see...” Mingyu replied.

Seungkwan clicked his tongue. “Just ask, go on. I know you want to.”

“I wasn't going to! I was just wondering if you...” he mumbled back. Torn between wanting to respect Seungkwan's privacy and his curiosity.

“No. We didn't. We almost did, but his parents came back earlier than expected.”

Mingyu stopped in his tracks and gaped at him. “Oh my god, don't tell me they walked in on you!?”

Seungkwan sighed deeply, “Thankfully they didn't, but it was a close call. Man...I start sweating just thinking back at it. I'm pretty sure his mom saw right through us. His dad too. It was so embarrassing.” Seungkwan groaned and he sat himself down on an empty park bench. “It was _really_ almost. Now the next time we hang out there's going to be this pressure to do it since we got so close...”

“I thought you wanted to do it?” Mingyu sat down next to him and shoved the last of his cheese dog in his mouth.

“I do...but I feel like if I think about it too much I get nervous and start _over_ thinking it.”

“Hansol is probably just as nervous.”

“Were you nervous before you and Wonwoo did it?”

“Of course! I felt like I had no idea what I was doing!”

“How did you get over that?”

“I guess my wanting to be with him was stronger than my fear that I was doing it wrong.”

Seungkwan thought about that. It sounded logical, sort of. “I wasn't this nervous when we did other stuff.”

“What other stuff?”

“Just...stuff. Leave me alone.” He cleared his throat and without looking at Mingyu he asked, “Do you, ehm...what do you do?”

“What do you mean? Like my...moves or something?”

“No, like...what...position?” He cast a coy glance at his best friend who seemed to not be sure if he was going to answer that. But before he did, Seungkwan already changed his mind about wanting to know. “You know what, forget it. I'm not sure I need that information. Although I can't really imagine Wonwoo as a top...”

Mingyu narrowed his eyes at him, “Have you been thinking about my boyfriend in a sexual way?”

“No! I just...I was just curious. Like I said, forget it.” He stood up from the bench and resumed walking. Mingyu quickly caught up.

“Maybe you're just not as ready as you thought you were?” He suggested carefully.

Seungkwan shoved his hands in his coat pockets, “No, I don't think that was it. It just wasn't the right time. It didn't help that we weren't totally prepared.”

“What do you mean? Didn't you have condoms?”

“No, we did. We didn't have any...we didn't have any lube.” He lowered his voice to a whisper despite the fact there was no-one around to hear him anyway.

“Ah, there's your first problem. You need lube, man.”

  
“I know, but we didn't have any and we wanted to...it was working anyway.”

“Was it though?”

“Kinda...”

“All I'm saying is, don't make it more difficult than it has to be. Trust me when I say that lube makes everything so much easier.”

“But...”

“But what?”

“Buying lubrication is sort of embarrassing. What straight teenager goes out and buys lube?”

“I don't know. I don't really hang out with any sexually active straight teenagers. Besides, cashiers don't give a fuck about that kind of stuff. Look, if you can't man up and buy some lube, maybe you shouldn't have sex.”

“Where did you buy it?”

“I, eh...Wonwoo already had it when we...I haven't actually gone out and gotten any.”

Seungkwan lightly punched him in the arm, “Don't be such a hypocrite.”

“It's just that Wonwoo is so matter-of-factly about it. We need lube, so he buys lube. It's just easier if I let him buy it.”

“Right.” Seungkwan replied. Maybe it had been part of the problem. No matter what website he had read, they all said it was so much easier and safer to use lube. He'd worry about it later. “By the way, let's not talk about this when we're with Hoon and Seok, okay? I fear we don't want to know just how much Jihoon knows about sex and I think the whole topic makes Seokmin uncomfortable.”

Mingyu nodded in agreement. Although he was sort of curious about Jihoon's knowledge.

“So...my boyfriend is visiting his grandparents, but where is yours again?” Seungkwan asked when they had almost reached their destination.

Mingyu's expression turned sour at the question, “He said he has to study. It's all he ever does lately. Sometimes it feels like he forgot I exist.”

“I'm sure that's not true. He's just focused on graduating and getting high grades.”

“So? Jihoon and Seok are graduating, too! And Jaehyun. They still find the time to hang out with us!”

“I thought Wonwoo was trying to get into an honor program? It wouldn't kill you to a little bit more understanding, you know.”

Mingyu kicked a small stone on his path, “Whatever.” He grumbled.

“Hey.” Seungkwan said as he placed his hand on Mingyu's arm, “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, I'm just a little frustrated. He keeps canceling on me and I get it, but...”

“His application deadline is almost over, right? Just be patient until then.”

“Yeah...yeah, you're right. He's just canceling because he's busy.”

Seungkwan frowned his brows together. “Of course he is. Why else would he cancel?”

Mingyu shrugged.

Seungkwan sighed and hooked their arms together. Mingyu let out a little yelp when he was suddenly pulled into a brisk walk. “Come on! We're late.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Seungkwan could tell that Mingyu is getting insecure about why Wonwoo cancels (no, Mingyu, it's not because he doesn't like you anymore T^T )  
> -I'm thinking next time we're going to Seungkwan's birthday and we'll finally get some making out in the locker room (and a little surprise)
> 
> (sorry if the next one takes a little bit longer than you might have gotten used to from me...I sort of started writing fairy tale inspired one shots...)


	47. HS2-17 Locker room Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Seungkwan's birthday and he knows what he wants from his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit longer than usual!

Seungkwan didn't care that much about his birthday. He didn't. Really. Sure, he liked getting presents and it made him feel loved when his friends and family send him messages or congratulated him in person. But his birthday wasn't a big deal to him. And yet...

Seungkwan stared at Mingyu sitting across from him. When Mingyu finally noticed he stared right back. “What?”

“I'm about to start eating my lunch.”

“Okay?'

Seungkwan sighed.

Mingyu looked at Hansol in the hopes that he could enlighten him as to why Seungkwan was being dramatic. He had sent him a birthday message at midnight and he had already given him his present. He seemed fine during class before. Hansol didn't seem to know either as he just shrugged.

“Babe?” He tried. “Everything alright?”

Seungkwan shoved a bite of food in his mouth and avoided answering. He was being stupid. He knew that. He couldn't expect Mingyu to make soup for him on his birthday every year. But somewhere in his mind he had been hoping for it. Last year he had been happily surprised by the sweet gesture. Seeing the way both Mingyu and Hansol were looking at him he realized he was just being grumpy for no good reason. He quickly wanted to move on from this moment and luckily Jihoon, for once, had good timing and broke the silence.

“Here.” He said and shoved a poorly wrapped present across the table.

Seungkwan's expression immediately brightened and he took it in his hands. “Ooh, you got me a present? What is it?”

“I wouldn't open it here.” Jihoon said and Seungkwan stopped tearing off the wrapping.

“Why not? What is it?”

“Just open it later. It's something that you might be interested in having.”

“Eh, okay...” He placed the present in his lap, but Seungkwan was a curious and sometimes impatient person and he couldn't help but pluck at the edge of the wrapping. He finally got enough off to be able to see what it was and he really wished he had listened to Jihoon. He shoved it into his bag and hoped no-one had noticed.

“Told you to open it later.” Jihoon said. Seungkwan's red face was enough to let him know what had happened.

“Jihoon, what the fuck! Why would you give me that?” Seungkwan hissed.

“What did you give him?” Seokmin asked with big eyes.

“Don't!” Seungkwan warned Jihoon. He didn't need the entire cafeteria to know that one of his friends had just given him lube for his birthday.

“I don't know why you're getting mad.” Jihoon sighed, “It's really good stuff.”

“I don't need _you_ to get it for me!”

“Seriously, what did you get him, Jihoon?” Chan asked this time.

Jihoon gestured for him to get closer so he could whisper in his ear and as soon as he had Chan burst out in a loud laughter.

Seungkwan's eyes shot daggers and he stood up with his bag swung over his shoulder. “I'm going to class.”

“Lunch _just_ started.” Hansol said and got a glare in return. When Seungkwan walked away he turned to Jihoon. “What did you get him, man? Why would you get him something that would make him angry?”

“In my defense I did tell him to open it later. As for what I got him...you remember what you talked to me about a little while back?”

It took a moment before Hansol understood just what conversation he was referring to. He had confided in Jihoon on the roof about his and Seungkwan's attempt at sex and their lack of lube. He hadn't thought Jihoon would actually go out and buy it for them. “Y-you got him lu- Seriously?” He stood up. “I think I'd better go check on him.”

Jihoon clicked his tongue as he watched him walk away, “These kids. You get them something they want and they're not even grateful.”

<>

Hansol found Seungkwan leaning against the wall just outside the cafeteria.

“Took you long enough.” He pouted.

“Eh, sorry? But if you storm off like that how am I supposed to know if you want me to follow you or to leave you alone?”

Seungkwan didn't say anything else, but it was clear from the look on his face that he thought Hansol should definitely know whether or not to follow him without being explicitly told to do so.

  
“So, ehm, Jihoon told us what he got you. Are you really mad at him?”

“I'm not mad.” Seungkwan mumbled. “I'm slightly embarrassed. But that's not even why I walked out of there.”

“It's not?”

Seungkwan shyly shook his head, “I just suddenly thought of something else I want for my birthday.”

“Oh? You mean besides the phone case you really wanted that I already got you?”

“Yeah, besides that.”

“Why do you get two presents?”

“This is really something for you too.” His shyness made way for a teasing smirk as he leaned in to whisper to Hansol, “Let's go and make-out in the locker room. I'm sure there's nobody there now.”

“A-are you serious? I came out here because I thought you were upset. But you want us to go and-”

Seungkwan nodded, “You've mentioned it before, right? That you wanted to do that?”

Hansol eyed him with a hint of suspicion, “Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with Jihoon's present?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “No, Hansol. I don't want us to do it for the first time in a dirty locker room.” After their close call at Hansol's house they hadn't had an opportunity to be alone in either of their houses. It's not as if he wanted to have sex in the locker room, but he missed being physically close to his boyfriend.

“Well, I mean...you did try to do it in a dirty bathroom, so...” He teased.

Seungkwan crossed his arms, “Forget it.”

Hansol met his smirk from earlier. “Let's go.”

{Locker room}

“Let's do it here.” Seungkwan whispered and he lead Hansol by the hand to a row of lockers in the back that would shield them from view. “I'm sure nobody will come here during lunch time, but just in case.” He stood with his back against the lockers, holding both of his boyfriend's hands. He pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around his neck.

After the initial phase of being slightly on edge, paying close attention to any sounds, they started to get lost in each other. Hansol had missed Seungkwan too and he surprised himself with how hungry he was for him. His kisses were fast and a bit rougher than usual. He started to leave kisses along Seungkwan's jaw line and down his neck. “I'm going to give you a hickey.” He said in a way that sounded more like a statement of fact than anything else and it sounded romantic or seductive in no way.

Seungkwan didn't care, he just agreed. “Just make sure it's in a place I can cover easily.” He managed to get out before his breath hitched. Holy crap. Why did Hansol sucking his neck feel so good and why hadn't they tried that before?

Hansol barely left his boyfriend's skin as he made his way back up Seungkwan's neck and to his half open mouth that was waiting for him. He wished he had a bit more confidence in his sexy skills, because if he did he would definitely grab Seungkwan's ass right about now and tell him to wrap his legs around his waist. But right now he was too afraid he would do something clumsy and totally unsexy, like dropping him on the floor or accidentally banging his head against the locker. So instead he just whispered in his ear. “Did you like that?”

Instead of answering verbally, Seungkwan pulled him back in for a heavy kiss to show just how much he had liked it. He got his hands under Hansol's shirt and felt his hot skin. He used the grip on his hips to switch their positions. The sound of Hansol's back hitting the lockers echoed through the empty locker room, but they couldn't care less. Seungkwan was vaguely aware of the fact that lunch was probably almost over and the bell could ring at any moment, but he didn't want to think about it. He wanted to stay here and make out with Hansol until their lips were raw.

They were ripped from their make-out trance when they heard the door to the locker room open. They heard a loud bang as if someone was being shoved roughly against the metal lockers. Seungkwan looked at Hansol with worry in his eyes, both for fear of getting caught and for the possibility that it was someone getting bullied. But the next sound that echoed of the walls sounded more like a moan of pleasure than someone getting beat up. Both of their eyes widened in further shock when the person responsible for the sound spoke.

“J-jae, are you sure nobody will walk in?”

_Seokmin_? Seungkwan mouthed silently and Hansol nodded in disbelief.

“We have to get out of here.” Seungkwan whispered. “I do _not_ want to listen to Seokmin and Jaehyun getting it on.”

“It's okay, baby.” They could hear Jaehyun say. “There's no class here this period. Let's get in the shower.”

Seungkwan looked absolutely horrified as their words made way for soft moans and the sound of clothes coming off. They waited for the sound of running water to come from the showers and Seungkwan dared to pop his head around the lockers to make sure they wouldn't be seen. In a silent dash they made it out the door.

Seungkwan leaned his hands on his knees and he took a few deep breaths, “I can't believe that just happened.” He looked at the closed door with a frown, “Is he making Seokmin skip class?”

“ _That's_ what you're worried about?”

The bell rang and they had to run to make it in time for their own class. Sitting at his desk, slightly out of breath, Seungkwan had trouble focusing on whatever their teacher was talking about. He wasn't thinking about the embarrassment he had felt seeing what Jihoon had given him, nor about the unexpected discovery that Seokmin apparently was the type of person to skip class to fool around. He was only thinking about Hansol and the way he had made him feel just now. He couldn't help the small smile on his face. All in all not a bad birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -not sure what I wanted with this chap except that on the story timeline it was Seungkwan's birthday, haha.  
> -For those who remember, the year after Mingyu had made him soup and he did his birthday Vlive I'm pretty sure he was sort of expecting Mingyu to bring him soup again or something, haha.  
> -S-seokmin??


	48. HS2-18 Unexpected night shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol and Seungkwan are trying to do math homework at Seungkwan's house when his mother is unexpectedly called in for the night shift. Leaving the two boys by themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this title?? Idek

Seungkwan let out a heavy sigh. “I'm so over math. Can't we just...not do math?” They were in Seungkwan's bedroom working on their homework. It had been a while since they did homework together like this. Seungkwan liked to keep to his study schedule, while Hansol had more of a 'I'll do my homework when I'll do it' type of attitude. But while he was better at planning, Seungkwan had to admit that his boyfriend was better at math and he could use his help. But right now he really wasn't in the studying mood.

“What do you want to do then?” Hansol chuckled.

“Hmm.” Seungkwan said, pretending to think. “Kiss you.” His mom was home, but at least they could close the door here and she always knocked before entering. She never actually waited for a reply, but it bought them a few seconds to get into a position where they could pretend they hadn't just been making out.

“Well, alright, but you can't blame me if you fail math.” He put his pen down and leaned his back against Seungkwan's bed and waited for him to get closer. They had just gotten comfortable when there was an inevitable knock on the door. Seungkwan rolled out of his boyfriend's lap and grabbed the nearest book.

“Y-yes?”

His mother opened the door, “Honey, I just wanted to let you know that I just got a call from the hospital and they asked me to pick up the night shift today.”

“Again? Don't overwork yourself, mom.”

“It can't be helped. It's flu season and some co-workers are sick. Besides, it pays a little extra. Anyway, there's dinner in the kitchen.” She went to close the door, but turned back around. “Oh, and Hansol don't go home too late. I don't want you riding the bus by yourself at night.”

“Thank you, but it's alright, Mrs. Boo. I can always ask my dad to pick me up.”

She smiled and nodded an OK. “You boys study hard now.” She closed the door and left the room silent.

Seungkwan slowly turned his head to look at Hansol and found he was already looking at him too. He scooted back to sit next to him again. He leaned in and closed the distance between them. Their kisses were soft and sweet, with an amount of coyness. Seungkwan waited until he heard the sound of the front door closing before he pulled back. “Can I take off your shirt?” He whispered.

Hansol gave him a smile that was caught between shyness and seduction. “Take yours off too.” He whispered back. He wasn't sure why they were whispering, but it felt like an appropriate time to do so. Seungkwan made sure to remember just where he put their shirts this time and with his lips still attached to Hansol's he moved the scene from the floor to his bed.

As they lost more of their clothes they could both feel that this was it. This was going to be the time. This was going to be the place. For some reason it felt more like the real deal than it had at any point during that time at Hansol's house were they had gotten interrupted. Hovering over Hansol Seungkwan's eyes briefly glanced over to his nightstand. They both knew what was in there. Their eyes connected. Hansol nodded.

Seungkwan kept his eyes on Hansol's face the entire time to gauge if he was doing something that he was enjoying (or at the very least not causing him any discomfort). He wanted to say something as he started to move, but the sensation was a bit overwhelming and he drew a blank as what to say. Hansol also didn't utter a word. He was softly caressing Seungkwan's arm, but suddenly grabbed on stronger when a new sensation ran through his body. He saw Seungkwan looking at him in question, but he smiled and shook his head to wave away any worries. He surrendered to the feeling of Seungkwan taking over his body and with it his mind. In this moment there was only them.

<>

Seungkwan placed a sloppy kiss on his boyfriend's mouth and laid himself down next to him. He found his hand and tangled their fingers together. “That was...that was good, right? Like...I didn't hurt you, did I?”

Hansol reached over to stroke his cheek and guide his head to face him. “Babe, that was honestly the best sex I've ever had.”

Seungkwan scoffed with amusement, “I'm serious.”

“So am I.” He placed a soft kiss on Seungkwan's cheek. “I love you, Seungkwan.”

“I love you, too, Hansol Vernon Chwe.”

Hansol let out an uncharacteristic giggle and he pulled Seungkwan's face closer for a kiss. “To answer your previous question. No, you didn't hurt me. I mean, it felt kinda weird at first, but not in a bad way. And after that well...I could get used to that.”

“I-” Seungkwan started and he bit his lower lip. He propped himself up on one elbow and he ran a finger along Hansol's jaw and down to his chest. “You know...my mom won't be home until early morning.”

“Oh?”

Seungkwan playfully ran shapeless figures over the middle of Hansol's chest with his finger, “We did talk about how we want to try it both ways...and...I really want to feel what it's like, so if you're up for it...I kinda feel like I've only lost half of my virginity right now.”

“That's silly.” Hansol chuckled.

“Oh...”

“No, I just mean you don't have to feel that way. There are people who only do it the one way, right? But if you want to...we could.”

“Do you want to?”

He smiled, “Of course I do.”

Seungkwan hadn't been entirely sure what to expect and he wondered if Hansol had also felt this exposed and vulnerable before. Not that it was a bad feeling per se, but he couldn't imagine doing this with someone he didn't trust as much as he trusted Hansol. He wanted to close his eyes and let it wash over him, but he was afraid that if he did that he'd only open them to find out it was just a dream. So he kept them open and firmly locked on Hansol's beautiful face and moving body.

<>

They sat on the couch, hair damp from the shower and a plate loaded with food. Seungkwan had his head on Hansol's shoulder, which wasn't the best position for eating in, but he wanted to be as close as possible. He would have preferred not even getting out of the bed and just fall asleep in his arms, but their stomachs had cried for some sustenance. “Do you have to leave soon?” Seungkwan asked.

Hansol cursed the concept of time. “I think I can stay a little longer. Do you want to cuddle on your bed?”

“Yes, please.”

<>

Hansol was gently stroking Seungkwan's hair with one hand and trying to type a message to his mom with the other.

_Sorry lost track of time. Is it OK if I stay over here?_

He hesitated and added: _His mom is home_

He doubted his mother would actually check if that was true and it might just be what was needed to convince her that it was okay for him to spend the night at his boyfriend's on a school night. He allowed himself to fully relax when his mother replied that it was okay just this once. He looked at the way Seungkwan rose up and down on his chest. “Kwannie?”

“Hm?” Seungkwan hummed in reply and wrapped his arm tighter around him. He was sure Hansol was about to tell him that he really had to get going or that his dad was on his way to pick him up. So he held on to squeeze every moment of being together out of him.

“Good night.” Hansol reached over and turned off the table lamp on the nightstand. He sank down to get his head on the pillow and waited for Seungkwan to get comfortable in his arms again.

Seungkwan didn't question if it was okay for him to stay and he didn't want to think about how his mom would feel about this. He just listened to Hansol's breathing slowing down and felt the warmth of his arms. The whole night was replaying in his head and more than the physical things they had done and the concept of losing ones virginity, it was the way Hansol made him feel that stuck with him the most. The way he had looked at him as if he was the most beautiful thing in the world and he only hoped that he had looked at Hansol in the same way. The way he had felt completely exposed yet completely safe when it was Hansol taking the lead the second time around. It's not that he hadn't been nervous or didn't feel the weight of his inexperience at times, but all of that got overshadowed by the love radiating from every touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Not sure what to say about this chapter. I stuck to a level of detail that I felt comfortable with and I hope I did the moment some justice. Basically: they in love  
> -Originally this was going to happen after a few other chapters, but I felt it was more in line with the story to let it happen now.
> 
> It seems to be a pattern that: Seungkwan and Hansol do something -> Seungkwan talks to Mingyu about it   
> And so it will be with this, haha.


	49. HS2-19 Sharing and Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol staring at his boyfriend catches someone's attention. Seungkwan and Mingyu talk about last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are we ready for the comeback? Haha, of course we're not :D

The only regret Seungkwan had about the night that he lost his virginity was the fact that it happened on a school night. The next morning he woke up initially feeling happy wrapped in his boyfriend's arms. But that feeling quickly disappeared when he realized the time and what day it was. They had to rush to get ready for school while at the same time making sure his mother didn't somehow find out Hansol had stayed the night. It also didn't help that for some reason Hansol was way more clingy than he usually was at school and Seungkwan reminded him a few times that they were in public.

In Hansol's defense, he was already restraining himself. He just wanted to hold Seungkwan's hand and cuddle him and nuzzle his neck and kiss him. Instead, he almost got hit in the face with a basketball because he was distracted by Seungkwan in shorts.

“Hansol, come on! Where's your head?” Jaehyun yelled at him form the sidelines. After the fight between Mingyu and Taesung, Jaehyun had taken on the role as captain and he was doing a pretty good job at keeping the peace in the team. On the surface anyway. Seungkwan gave him a reprimanding look as well and Hansol sent both of them a quick apologetic bow.

After an otherwise uneventful practice Hansol was walking Seungkwan to the bus stop. Not his usual one.

“Do you really have to go over to Mingyu? Can't you come over to my place?”

Seungkwan groaned, “I promised. We're doing that stupid social science thing together and we're not finished at all because I keep blowing him off.”

Hansol raised an eyebrow at Seungkwan's bad choice of words.

“To spend time with you.” Seungkwan added. “So, yeah, I kind of have to now. But, eh, come here for a second.” He dragged him away, not caring about what happened to his bike. They stood behind a tree that covered them from being immediately visible from the road. Seungkwan pressed a not so innocent kiss on Hansol's mouth. He pulled back with a smile. “I've been wanting to do that all day. I'll call you later, okay?”

Hansol watched him dart away to get on the bus to Mingyu's house. He was bending over to pick up his bike again when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

“Hey, Hansol!”

Hansol turned around and faced Hyunggu who was walking up to him. “Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Hansol thought back to the last time Hyunggu had wanted to talk to him and he said Seungkwan was straight. “Eh, sure.” He followed Hyunggu to stand away from where people were and waited for him to start talking.

“Ehm, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but...you told me Seungkwan is straight, right?”

He felt it best not to answer directly so he just sort of half nodded.

“I was just wondering...are you? I've seen the way you look at him and usually it's fondness that I might overlook as just staring at your friend in an endearing way or something, but sometimes you look at him like...”

“Like what?”

“Like you _like_ him and not just his personality.”

“I'm not sure what you're getting at.” He knew what he was getting at.

“You stare at him. Especially when he's wearing something that really brings out his ass. I mean, I get it. Believe me I get it.”

Hansol felt a blush creep up on his face. He hadn't realized how obvious he apparently was. The redness on his face seemingly told Hyunggu all he wanted to know.

“I was just thinking...” Hyunggu continued. “Maybe you and I could bond over having a crush on a straight guy.” He bit his lip in a way that Hansol could only interpret as a kind of flirting.

“Ehm...I...I have to go now.” He started to walk away, but Hyunggu stopped him.

“Hansol, wait! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable! I'm sorry.” He softly placed a hand on Hansol's forearm. “Just know that if you ever need anyone to talk to about anything, I'm here.”

“Eh, thanks. I'm good though. I'll see you later.” With that Hansol turned around and walked away. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He had hoped Hyunggu would give up on liking Seungkwan thinking that he was straight. He definitely hadn't meant for his attention to shift to himself instead.

{Mingyu's house}

Seungkwan stared at Mingyu sitting across from him. He hadn't told him yet about last night, but he didn't just want to blurt it out, so he was waiting for a good moment.

“So,” Mingyu said as he flipped through the pages of a textbook, “what do you think we should put in the second paragraph?”

“Me and Hansol had sex last night.”

Mingyu blinked a few times while he processed what Seungkwan had just said “...not what I asked, but oh my god! Where? How? How long?”

Seungkwan frowned and gave him a look like he was judging him. Hard. “ _How long_!? Why would you ask met that!?”

“I'm sorry, cancel that question. I don't actually want to know that! Start with _how_ it happened. Wasn't your mom home? Or were you at his house?”

“No, my house. My mom was supposed to be home, but she got called into work. So it totally wasn't planned. Maybe that's why it happened. We had to sneak around in the morning.”

“Why? I thought your mom was super chill about everything.”

“Well, she is...and she's totally fine with Hansol sleeping over when she's home and it's the weekend, but I don't think she's okay with him staying over on a school night.”

“So...? How was it?”

“It was...kind of intense, I guess.”

“Intense how?”

Seungkwan took a moment to think about that. “I've never felt that close to another person before and that feeling was new and well, intense. I could just _feel_ that he loves me or something. I don't know how else to describe it. I mean, it wasn't perfect, but it was okay that we were both still figuring things out.”

“Aww, that's kinda sweet.”

“Yeah, and definitely better than that other time we almost did it at Hansol's house and he told me to 'just put it in'” Seungkwan pressed his lips together in a thin line and shut himself up as soon as he said it. He didn't really need Mingyu to know about the logistic details of his newly brought into existence sex-life.

“You just gave away more information than you meant to, didn't you?” Mingyu said with a hint of glee on his face.

Seungkwan's face, on the other hand, turned bright red, “I...eh...”

“If it makes you feel any less embarrassed I ' _put it in_ ' too.”

Seungkwan reached behind him to grab a pillow and threw it in Mingyu's face, “Dude, I didn't need to know that and for your information we did it both ways!” This time he buried his face in his hands to hide the even darker shade of red.

Mingyu was almost literally rolling over the floor laughing, “You just keep revealing things all by yourself, Boo Seungkwan. Just admit you want to share and I'll listen.”

“Perv!” Seungkwan looked up again and frowned at him.

“I'm not the one who had sex twice in one night when doing it for the first time!”

Seungkwan straightened his shoulders and pushed away his embarrassed. “Yeah, well, so what? You've got a problem?”

Mingyu slowly breathed out to control his laughter. “All jokes aside, I'm happy for you that everything went okay. You should write Jihoon a thank you note for the lube.”

Seungkwan got up, grabbed the pillow again and whacked Mingyu a dozen times with it. He sat back down with a huff. “I'm never telling you anything ever again. Was I like this when you told me _you_ had sex? No. _I_ was a good friend.”

“Oh, come on. Don't be like that. I'm just teasing. What's the big deal anyway? Now that we both know what sex is really like, we can talk about it, right?”

“Why would we do that?”

Mingyu shrugged. “I dunno, just bonding or sharing. Are you the same Seungkwan who suggested making out for practice and watching porn?”

“That's different! I don't need the mental image of you having sex. It's weird.”

“You're weird.” Mingyu mumbled.

Seungkwan let out a sigh, “Fine. Is there anything you'd like to ' _share'_ with me so we can ' _bond'_? I already told you about the most intimate moment of my life, but whatever.”

Mingyu stared at him for a moment, assessing if behind the sarcasm was a genuine invitation to talk. Seungkwan was still staring at him like he was waiting, so he figured that was the case. “Okay, so, there's this position that I want to try where-”

“No!” Seungkwan covered his ears with his hands, “I was right. This is weird.”

Mingyu got closer and tried pulling his hands away, “It's not weird! What's weird is that you can't even listen to me without picturing me having sex!”

“I have a very visual imagination, leave me alone!”

“I just want-” There was a knock on the door. They both turned their heads, Mingyu's hands still wrapped around Seungkwan's wrists and Seungkwan trying to cover his ears.

“Everything all right in here, boys?” Mingyu's mother asked. “Seungkwan, are you staying for dinner?”

“Y-yes. If that's okay.” Seungkwan nodded politely and he tried to shrug Mingyu off him.

“Thank you, mom. Bye.” Mingyu said to shut down the conversation.

They both let out a long breath after the door closed again.

“We really shouldn't be yelling about sex when my parents are home.” Mingyu said.

“It wasn't my fault! You're the one who-”

Mingyu silenced his friend with a finger on his lips. “Seungkwan, please, let's not start again. I'm suddenly very tired. Let's just finish this assignment.”

“Fine.”

Seungkwan was still glad he had told Mingyu about him and Hansol. Maybe someday he'd be more open to discuss sex in more detail with his best friend, but for now the only person he wanted to share every detail with was the person he would actually be having sex with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hyunggu, my dude, you need to get your gaydar checked, lol  
> -Mingyu, chill, the boy JUST lost his virginity lol
> 
> Hmm next is probably Valentine's day~ (basically just a fluffy chap)


	50. HS2-20 Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Valentine's Seungkwan and Hansol decide to make cookies together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a (cute?) little Valentine's Day home date~

Hansol looked at the contents of their shopping basket. “Don't we have a bit much, Boo? Just how many cookies are you planning on making?”

Seungkwan sighed and double checked his shopping list, “We're going to make a whole lot so we can give them to our family and friends! Valentine's day isn't just for couples, you know.”

The first half of February was filled with birthday after birthday in their group. Last year they only had Hansol and Seokmin with their birthdays on the same day even, but now with the addition of Chan and Jaehyun there were four birthdays _and_ Valentine's Day in less than a week's time. Since they had come up with the idea to go out to an amusement park that Sunday, the day after Valentine's, Seungkwan and Hansol had decided to have a home date on Saturday. Seungkwan had come up with the idea to make chocolate cookies. Hansol just wanted to do whatever Seungkwan wanted to do.

As they (Seungkwan) stood there deciding if they needed edible glitter to make their cookies more glamorous, an older lady stopped next to them. “Aren't you boys nice, making Valentine sweets for your girlfriends.”

Seungkwan was torn between his need for everybody to like him and to be polite and being annoyed at the hetero-normative assumptions. “We don't have girlfriends, ma'am.” He smiled sweetly.

“Oh, I see. These are going to be confession cookies.” She laughed, but Seungkwan had trouble keeping the smile on his face. Why was this lady talking to them anyway?

Hansol nudged Seungkwan. “I think we have everything. Let's go.” He didn't really care what some stranger thought about why they were making cookies together on Valentine's Day, but he could tell it was bothering his boyfriend.

Seungkwan nodded. “Yeah. Let's go.” He gave the lady a polite little nod and grabbed Hansol's free hand, making sure to tangle their fingers together to leave no doubt about who they were making cookies for. He resisted the urge to look back to see her face, but he was proud of himself. He hadn't been rude about it, but he had found the courage to show who he was without apologies. Even if it was to a stranger who he would most likely never see again, it felt good.

{Hansol's kitchen}

“No, wait! You're not supposed to do it like that!” Seungkwan frowned at Hansol and took the whisk from his hand. Hansol stared at him in silence and for a second Seungkwan was worried his nagging had upset him. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-” He got interrupted with a smear of batter getting wiped onto his cheek. With his mouth half-open he stared at his boyfriend's smug face. He scoffed and he reached out to get his hands on some batter himself to return the favor.

The next thing they knew they were covered in batter and flour was flying around the kitchen. Hansol wrapped his arms around Seungkwan's waist and pulled him in for a strong kiss. Seungkwan let his arms rest on Hansol's shoulder with his batter-covered hands hanging in the air. Hansol confirmed his suspicions about Seungkwan secretly eating some of the chocolate chips when he tasted the lingering sweetness on his tongue. He let his hands roam lower.

They pulled apart in an instant when someone behind them loudly cleared their throat. “Don't mind me...” Hansol's younger sister, Sofia, said as she walked to the fridge, “...I'm just here to get a soda.”

“I-I thought you were out!” Hansol replied and he started wiping his hands clean on his apron.

She looked him over and couldn't help but laugh at her big brother and his boyfriend covered in cookie materials, “Clearly.”

“We, eh, I dropped some stuff. We'll clean it up! Don't tell mom and dad.”

She waved his concerns away with her hand, “Sure, sure. I was never even in the kitchen.” When she walked by Seungkwan she leaned in and whispered, “You have a bit of hand-shaped flour on your butt.”

Seungkwan felt his face heat up and he tried to twist his body so he could see. “Hansol!” he whined.

Hansol just chuckled with a cheeky grin on his face, “Want me to pat it off for you?”

“It's not funny! Look at my pants!” He cried as he tried to get it off.

“Okay.”

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes into thin slits. “I'm serious. What if it had been your parents and they saw your grabby hand print on my ass.”

Hansol got closer again. “You should, eh, really take those off.”

Seungkwan turned to face him and folded his arms. “What is with you? Are you horny or something?” He had only said it as a kind of jab, but Hansol didn't respond offended or in any way that Seungkwan had expected.

“Yes.” Hansol sighed. “Don't look at me like that. It's not so weird, is it? We're spending time together and we're having fun and you're wearing a cute apron. I'd be concerned if I _wasn't_ horny.”

Seungkwan had to admit that he wasn't totally unbothered himself. “What time will your parents get home? No, wait, never mind. Your sister.” He glanced over to the doorway, but she had gone back up to her room as soon as she got her drink.

“Would it be too obvious if I asked her to step out for a bit?” Hansol thought out loud.

“Way too obvious.” Seungkwan sighed. “Let's just get back to cookies. That's fun too.” He started to re-organize the countertop and hoped they hadn't wasted too many ingredients. He felt Hansol's hands on his hips and his chin on his shoulder.

“Do you want to take a 'making cookies' selfie?”

Seungkwan let out a fake gasp of shock, “ _You're_ suggesting to take a selfie? I thought you didn't like taking selfies.”

“But you do. And it's not that I don't like it, you just always want to take a million.”

Seungkwan opened his mouth to object, but he bit his tongue. Instead he decided to take advantage of the fact that his boyfriend was in a rare picture taking mood. Little over an hour and about a hundred pictures later, Seungkwan was staring at their baked creations, fresh out of the oven, with a pout. “They don't look as good as they do on Pinterest.”

Hansol chuckled, picked one up and took a bite. “They taste good though.”

“Let me taste.”

Hansol held out the cookie and Seungkwan took a bite. His frown relaxed. “I guess they're good enough for our friends. Let's give the best looking ones to our parents. And Sofia, to buy her silence.”

{Hansol's room, evening}

“I think your parents liked the cookies. Don't you?”

Hansol hummed in agreement and shut the door behind him.

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow. “Eh, shouldn't we keep that open?” He asked and he sat down on the edge of Hansol's bed.

“No, it's okay. I, eh, talked to my parents about it.” Hansol joined him on the bed.

“What do you mean?”

“I told them we have sex.”

“You what!?” Seungkwan leaned all the way back as if Hansol was about to jump him.

“I was tired of having to be so careful when you come over and especially now that we've started having sex, I just-.”

“So, you were just like, what? Mom, Dad. I want to fuck Seungkwan so I'm closing the door!? As if I can ever have sex here now!”

“As long as we make sure we keep it down I don't see what the problem is.”

“You don't see- I-”

Hansol stood back up and took a few steps toward the door, “Do you want me to open it up again? Is that what you want?”

“N-no...”

“What do you want then?”

“I want our parents as far away from out sex-life as possible. That's what I want.”

“Do you think I _wanted_ to have that talk with them? Because I didn't. But I want to be able to get close to you without feeling like we have to hide it.”

“But...” Seungkwan mumbled. “Can't we just do it when they're not home or something?”

Hansol sat down again and took his hand, “Look, Seungkwan. I'll never push to have sex in a setting that makes you uncomfortable, but personally I don't think it's very realistic. How often are we really alone in the house? Almost never. If you really don't want to, of course we don't have to, but-”

“I don't think it's very realistic either...” He looked up to catch his eyes and he shyly bit his lower lip, “...I...I think I can keep it down.”

Hansol chuckled and shook his head, “Why are you complaining then?”

Seungkwan shrugged and a little smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He let out a loud laugh when Hansol playfully pushed him on his back. He immediately covered his mouth. “Sorry...” he whispered.

Hansol just smiled and leaned down to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -There isn't all that much story left in this school year :o Just a few more things happen and I think at least half of it is basically fluff and dates, haha (which also means I have more trouble writing, because I normally live for drama...we'll still get DRAMA, but not so much this school year)  
> -The amusement park outing will also include some of Jaehyun's friends (background) :D


	51. HS2-21 Amusement Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes to an amusement park to celebrate some birthdays! But they run into someone from school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of: COMEBACK!!! LEFT & RIGHT is a BOP (and I'm in love with Fearless)
> 
> Second: this chapter, idek, you can tell I struggled since it took me way longer to update :/

Seungkwan hopped from his left feet to his right and back in an attempt to feel warmer. “Why did we decide to celebrate these birthdays outside? It's freakin' freezing.” He said to Hansol, Chan, Mingyu and Wonwoo standing next to him. “Where is everybody? Can't they just get here on time?” As if on cue, an arm wrapped around him from behind and he let out a small yelp. He turned around to find Jeonghan smiling at him. “Where did you come from!?”

“The parking lot. Jisoo's mom dropped us off.” He looked around the group. “So we're still missing Hoonie, Minnie, and Jaehyun?”

“And I believe Johnny and Doyoung are also coming. I guess to balance out the friend group for Jaehyun a bit.” Wonwoo replied.

“Doyoung?” Jisoo asked. He remembered Johnny as the basketball team's captain last year, but the other name didn't ring a bell.

“A friend of Jaehyun. He's in the book club with me.” Wonwoo explained.

“He is?” Mingyu asked. Wonwoo didn't talk much about his club activities and for some reason 'book club president Wonwoo' existed in a sort of vacuum in Mingyu's head. Of course there were other members and Mingyu knew that. He had just never really thought about who Wonwoo was spending that time with. Wonwoo simply nodded.

“Oh!” Seungkwan exclaimed and he pulled three bags of the cookies he and Hansol had made yesterday out of his bag. “Jisoo, one for you. Jeonghan, I'm giving you two so be sure to give one to Seungcheol, okay?”

They didn't have to wait long for the others to arrive. Jihoon first, quickly followed by the rest who all arrived together. After polite nods and introductions for those who didn't know each other they entered the amusement park. Even though it was the weekend it was clear that Seungkwan wasn't the only one who thought it was too cold out. There weren't many visitors. “At least the lines will be fast.” Hansol pointed out in an attempt to turn his boyfriend's frown upside down.

“You're right. And it's not _that_ cold, I guess. I'm sorry for being grumpy on your birthday.”

Hansol smiled at him with that adoring look in his eyes that he got sometimes when looking at Seungkwan.

“What?” Seungkwan asked.

Hansol shook his head. “Nothing. It's just, if someone would have told me last year at my birthday that I'd be spending the next with you as my boyfriend...” He shrugged. “I'm just happy I guess.”

“Can we go ride something now?” Jihoon interrupted their sweet moment.

“Jihoon! There are minors present!”

“...I said some _thing_ not some _one_.”

Johnny let out a loud laugh and Jihoon pressed his lips together as if unintentionally making someone laugh was the height of social awkwardness for him. Johnny didn't seem to notice or care as he was already focused on other things. “Jae, don't forget to put on your scarf, dude.” He said with a smirk.

A bit shy Jaehyun pulled out the longest scarf ever and wrapped part of it around his neck. He held out the other end in Seokmin's direction who happily wrapped it around his own neck. The kept it on even when they went on a roller coaster together. Seokmin only took it off momentarily when Jeonghan dragged all the music club members into a photo booth.

“Come on, you guys!” He said as he squeezed himself in the already full booth. “A year ago we just finished the Battle of the Bands audition! We need to take a one-year anniversary picture!”

“Do we have to take it in here though?” Jisoo wondered out loud. He was balancing on one foot trying to make enough space for Jihoon in front of him.

“Yes! It's symbolic for how close we are.”

They knew better by now than to argue with Jeonghan anyway, so they just took their silly photo booth pictures with a smile.

A few more rides later their stomach started to growl and they decided to head to one of the eating establishments for some lunch.

Mingyu was last to sit down and he had just grabbed some paper napkins for the table when he turned around and bumped right into a girl holding a tray of food. He was just in time to grab it and make sure it didn't fall to the floor. “Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?” He asked the girl who looked back at him with a blush on her cheeks.

“I-I'm fine thank you.” With the way she was looking at Mingyu it was clear that she hadn't exactly minded Mingyu bumping into her.

“I didn't spill any of your food, right? Where's your table? I'll carry the tray.”

“T-that's okay. Really.”

Suddenly an arm wrapped around the girl. “Everything okay here, baby?”

Mingyu's face went from his warm friendly smile to stone cold in a flash. Taesung.

“O-oh, yes. It's nothing. Let's go sit down.” The girl, who didn't seem to understand that the two knew each other, started to walk away, but Taesung didn't move.

“You hitting on my girlfriend, Mingyu?”

“What? No?”

Wonwoo had been snickering about this poor girl getting flustered by his beautiful boyfriend, but he got up as soon as he saw Taesung approaching. “Funny how you called him a _fag_ but are still worried because your girl can't take her eyes off him.”

Taesung scoffed, “You're right.” His eyes went over their table, lingered a bit longer on Jaehyun and Seokmin's shared scarf, “You all are already busy with your freaky gay orgy or whatever. Except for Jeonghan of course whose just a fag hag at this point. Nice hair, lady-boy.”

“We're just out at an amusement park. If you think that's equivalent to a freaky gay orgy, why are you here?” This time it was Johnny who spoke up.

“Surprised to see you here, Johnny. I guess they finally converted you.”

“I don't remember you being such an asshole last year.” Johnny stood up and towered over him. “Give it a rest, Taesung. Go have lunch with your girlfriend and leave us alone.”

Luckily he didn't keep pushing and went to join his girlfriend.

“Her face looks like a thundercloud. I hope she dumps his ass.” Jihoon said.

Mingyu sighed, “I'm sure he'll blame me for that if it happens.”

“He only has himself to blame for being such a hateful person.” Jisoo said. He cast a glance at Jeonghan sitting next to him who had become very quiet. “A hateful person, close-minded person whose opinion is best ignored.”

They tried to get their happy vibe back, but it took until Taesung and his girlfriend got up and left before they started to relax again. Although Seungkwan didn't miss that when Jaehyun got back from the bathroom he didn't put his scarf back on again. He mumbled something about it being too warm anyway.

Back outside, while some of them were discussing what to ride next, Jeonghan pulled on Seungkwan's sleeve. “Kwannie, can I borrow your cap?” Seungkwan looked at his friend. He knew why he wanted his cap. Not because he was cold or because he was afraid the wind would mess up his hair. What Taesung had said had struck a cord. He took off his cap, but he didn't give it to Jeonghan. He held it out to Hansol instead.

“Sollie, can you hold my cap while me and Jeonghan ride those teacups over there?”

“Seungkwan, what? I don't want to ride stupid teacups.”

“Come on!” He grabbed Jeonghan by the wrist and dragged him to the line. He was still resisting, but a push in the back from Jihoon shut him up. The others shrugged and followed them. Tea cups might seem childish, but there's nothing to get you laughing like spinning around in an oversized cup and taking pictures trying to look fabulous with the wind in your hair while you're being thrown from side to side. By the end of the ride Jeonghan's cheerful smile had returned and the rest of them were laughing too. The incident with Taesung as good as forgotten. By most of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jeonghan is still sensitive about being called girly. He's feeling so much better in his college environment, but stuff like this triggers all the bad high school memories :(   
> -Doyoung was there but he didn't say anything? LOL  
> -Next chap won't be fun for one of them


	52. HS2-22 SOS on the roof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan gets a message from Jihoon during class and it's enough to make him skip class for the first time ever.

Seungkwan was trying his hardest to pay attention to the history teacher's monotone voice explaining about some war when he heard his phone buzz in his bag. He slid down his chair as subtle as he could and took it out. He had it on his lap and with one eye on the teacher unlocked it.

  
  


Jihoonie: _SOS on the roof w Seokmin rn he got dumped_

  
  


"What!?"

  
  


"Is there a problem, Mr.Boo?"

  
  


"N-no, sir. No, actually yes! It's Mingyu! He has a nut allergy and he just accidentally ate a peanut! It's vital me and Hansol take him to the nurse's office. He's a tall guy, you know. Better if there's two of us in case he collapses."

  
  


"What?" Mingyu whispered confused in Seungkwan's direction.

  
  


"Now!"

  
  


Not giving their taken aback teacher a chance to tell them they couldn't go, Seungkwan grabbed Mingyu by the arm and shot Hansol a look. They left followed by confused stares and murmers from their classmates. Out in the hallway Seungkwan didn't stop to explain, instead he started marching towards the stairs leading up.

  
  


"Are you going to tell us what's going on?" Mingyu asked as he used his long legs to keep up.

  
  


"We have to go to the roof! Apparently Jaehyun broke up with Seok."

  
  


"What!?"

  
  


"Exactly!"

  
  


{Rooftop}

  
  


Seungkwan let Hansol step out first. He knew how to get to the roof of the school, but he never went there and part of him felt like it was as if he was coming over to Jihoon, Hansol, and Chan’s shared house or something. He couldn’t help shiver when the wind hit him. It was getting warmer, but without a coat it was definitely chilly. They found the two classmates sitting next to each other with some distance between them. Jihoon looked, somewhat expected, uncomfortable and unsure of what to do in the situation. Seokmin’s eyes were red and puffy, but he didn’t seem to be crying at the moment.

  
  


“Hey.” Seungkwan said as he sat down in front of his heartbroken friend. “What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”

  
  


Seokmin shrugged and sniffed. “Just before class I was just talking to him about what we were going to do in the weekend and suddenly he told me that we needed to talk…then he broke up with me.”

  
  


Seungkwan scoffed, “Classy of him to do it at school. Couldn't he at least wait until after?”

  
  


Hansol nudged him and gave him a look that told him to be more sensitive. “Did he tell you why he suddenly wanted to break up?”

  
  


“He…” Seokmin couldn’t stop the tears from falling again, “...He said I’m too passive or something and that I never show any initiative and that he didn’t think we’d be able to make it work after high school so he’d rather end it now.”

“He got his acceptance letter for a university on the other side of the country, by the way.” Jihoon added on Seokmin’s behalf.

“Okay, so, maybe you just have to show him that you do show initiative and tell him that you don’t want to break up!” Mingyu said with a sense of hope in his voice.

  
  


“What kind of crap is that?” Jihoon retorted, “He gets dumped and _he_ is supposed to beg for him back? Fuck that. If he’s not willing to even try to make it work, he doesn’t deserve him anyway.”

  
  


“But…” Mingyu looked down at a crying Seokmin and sighed. He sat down next to him and wrapped a big arm around him.

  
  


Seokmin leaned into the touch, “What’s the point? He doesn’t want to be my boyfriend anymore. There’s nothing I can do.” He hiccuped between cries. “Did you guys leave class for me? I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that! It was just the last class anyway and boring.” Seungkwan said immediately. “Is there anything you need from us? Do you want to go to karaoke? Eat ice cream?”

  
  


“Get high?”

  
  


“Jihoon! This is not the time to-”

  
  


“Is it safe?” Seokmin asked and Seungkwan’s mouth fell open.

  
  


“Sure. Wait, let me text Chan to get here. He probably has some mild stuff.”

  
  


“Ehm, I know you’re hurting, but I don’t think drugs are the answer.”

Hansol placed a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “Relax, Kwannie. It might make him feel better or at least take his mind of things for a bit. You can try it too if you want.”

Seungkwan crossed his arms. “I do _not_.”

{20 minutes later}

They had been joined by Chan as soon as the bell rang and were now passing around a joint. Seungkwan started to cough after he took his first drag. “You actually _like_ this!?” He said as he eyed his boyfriend.

“Give it a minute.” He chuckled.

They were all startled by the sound of Seokmin’s cheerful ringtone blasting across the roof.

“Is it Jaehyun? Don’t pick up if it’s Jaehyun!” Mingyu yelled out louder than necessary.

“It’s Jeonghan…” Seokmin answered.

“ _MINNIE!”_ They could hear on the other side, “ _Where are you now? Still at the school? I’ll be there_ _ASAP_ _!”_

  
  


“What do you mean? Don’t you have class?”

  
  


“ _I was in class when I got Hoonie’s message, but I left right away! I can’t believe that_ _someone has had the audacity to break up with you_ _!_ ”

  
  


“Wait! Han! Bring snacks. We’re all going to be hungry soon.” Jihoon shouted.

Mingyu let out a loud huff and threw his phone into his bag.

“What's wrong with you?” Seungkwan said as he lightly kicked his leg.

“It's Wonwoo...he's not coming.”

"Oh..why not?"

"I told him what we're doing up here and he said he doesn't want to risk getting caught, but Seokmin is his friend too, right? He should come up here and be there for him!"

"Guys, I think Gyu might be having a bad trip."

"I'm not having a bad trip! I'm just annoyed." He took the joint Chan was holding out to him. “So, how long before this stuff makes me see the funny side of my boyfriend not caring about his friends?”

“I'm sure he cares, Kim Mingyu.” Seungkwan said, slightly scolding, “It's just that he got into the honor program and I'm sure he's just worried about what would happen if he gets caught smoking weed. Let's be honest, this _is_ pretty dumb of us and I totally don't approve.” He spoke as he took the joint again.

A few minutes later people were starting to feel the effects of what they were smoking and thanks to Chan's brilliant idea to take selfies with crazy filters the roof was soon filled with laughter. Jeonghan showed up with an array of snacks and they were all still laughing when they tried to stay quiet as they were leaving the school premises. That night they all invaded Seokmin's house and stayed the night. Wonwoo included. Although Seungkwan could tell Mingyu was still a bit miffed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Poor Seokmin T___T   
> -Wonwoo is just being smart


	53. HS2-23 No Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another time that Seungkwan finds himself alone in the locker room with Hyunggu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a DOUBLE update, so if you feel like you're missing something go back one chapter~

Seungkwan had had half a mind to boycott basketball and English club for the remainder of the year, but Hansol had convinced him to go. They still had one big game coming up and it really wouldn't be fair to their other teammates to just bail. Even so, Seungkwan had gone out of his way to avoid any interaction with Jaehyun as much as possible. Whenever he got an instruction he listened and did what he was told, but he didn't reply or even acknowledge his presence. He didn't care that Seokmin said he was fine with them talking to his ex, Seungkwan wasn't having it.

However, at the end of practice Jaehyun called him out and told him to stay behind for a minute saying he had to go over something with him. Seungkwan knew right away it was most likely an excuse. He waited with his arms crossed and a frown on his face while the others left.

“H-how is he?” Jaehyun asked without keeping up the pretense.

Seungkwan scoffed loudly, “Oh now you care about his feelings? How about when you dumped him in the middle of a school day?”

“I didn't _dump_ him, I just...it's for the better. I know it was bad timing, but I had been thinking about it, a lot, and it came out. I couldn't talk about what I wanted to do together when I knew that I-”

“That you were going to dump him.” Seungkwan snapped at him, but when he looked at the sad expression on his face he sighed and his anger deflated a little. “He'll be okay.”

Seungkwan thought he saw tears in his eyes before Jaehyun turned away from him. “Sorry. Can you leave now?”

{Locker room}

Most people were already gone, including Hansol, and Seungkwan quickly checked his phone.

**Sollie** : waiting _outside by the bike racks_

After a quick shower he got back to the lockers and once again found himself alone in the locker room with Hyunggu. Was he just a very slow dresser?

“Was everything okay with Jaehyun? He's not back yet.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, he just wanted to ask me something.” Seungkwan replied as he started to get dressed. He sat down on the bench next to the other boy to put on his shoes.

“I can't believe next week is already the last game of the year. Time goes so fast, doesn't it?”

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“Are you staying with the team next year?”

“Oh, I haven't really thought about it, but I guess so. At least next year we won't have to deal with Taesung anymore.”

Hyunggu chuckled, “I hear that. It's kind of ironic that he's always so mean to you and calling you names because he thinks you're gay or whatever, while there is an actual gay right next to you.”

Seungkwan looked up at Hyunggu. He wasn't completely sure who he was talking about. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...I mean me. I'm gay. But he keeps picking on you for it, but you're not. I appreciate how you never just flat out tell him that you're not gay, because calling someone gay shouldn't be an insult. Right?” He rambled.

“Right.” Seungkwan replied flatly. He could tell Hyunggu was struggling with the words coming out of his mouth and Seungkwan placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. While he hadn't been sure about it, he had considered the possibility Hyunggu might not be exactly straight. He felt a bit bad for never reaching out to him given the toxic things coming from their teammate's mouth all the time. “I'm sorry that you've had to deal with Taesung. Just because it wasn't directly directed at you, doesn't mean his words didn't hurt you.”

Hyunggu nodded and smiled at Seungkwan. “You know, I'm a little jealous at Hansol for being so close with you. You're such a nice person, Seungkwan.”

“Oh, eh, thanks. You're nice too.” He hesitated for a moment, but he had to ask. “Hyunggu? Why are you so sure I'm not gay?” Seungkwan found it odd that pretty much everybody at this school had immediately assumed that he was gay and yet another gay boy thought he was straight?

“Okay, this is super embarrassing, but I kind of asked Hansol about it a few months back and he told me you were straight.”

“He...did?”

“I'm sorry if it makes you feel weird that I asked about you, I just...I thought you were and I just wanted to make sure, I guess.”

Seungkwan sighed. He saw no reason to not just tell the truth of the matter. “Well, you were right.”

Hyunggu stared at him with a confused look. “About you being gay?”

“Yeah...I'm not sure why Hansol would tell you that I'm straight.”

“Wait, so, you're gay? As in, you like boys?”

“Is that a problem? You just said you are too.”

“No, of course it's not a problem.” He scooted a little closer. “It's not a problem at all.”

Seungkwan had his hand on the bench and he could feel Hyunggu's hand being placed directly next to it.

“Do you...have a boyfriend?” Hyunggu asked with a soft voice.

“I, eh...” Seungkwan's mind was blank. If Hansol had told Hyunggu that he was straight, did that mean he was totally opposed to the idea of anyone outside their friend group knowing about them?

“I don't. I sort of have a crush on someone though.”

“Oh?” Seungkwan was just sitting there. He felt like he should maybe back away a bit, but he didn't want to seem rude.

“Yeah, but I was trying to redirect my focus since he's straight. Or so I thought.”

His gaze was fixated on Seungkwan and moved down to his lips and back up again. Just then the door to the dressing room opened and Seungkwan jumped up immediately.

“Am I interrupting something?” Jaehyun asked with his eyebrows raised.

“Nope!” Seungkwan exclaimed. “I was just leaving actually. You two have a nice evening. Afternoon. Whatever.” He stormed out with his heart in his throat and rushed to where his boyfriend was waiting for him. The last thing he wanted right now was for Hyunggu to follow him. He smiled a bright smile at Hansol. “Let's go!”

“Where are we even going?” Hansol chuckled.

“Your house, my house, the park, anywhere. Let's just go.”

“Everything okay? What happened with Jaehyun?”

“What? Oh, yeah, no, he was just asking me how Seok was doing. I think he actually feels really bad about it. I just don't want to be at school anymore, so just take me wherever.”

They rode off with Seungkwan holding onto Hansol as he sat on the back of his bicycle. They didn't notice Hyunggu staring at them from afar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hyunggu with his double crush on Verkwan. Poor guy, lol. There he was thinking he might have a chance with Seungkwan after all.  
> -Does Seungkwan want to know why exactly Hansol decided to tell Hyunggu that he's straight? Yes. Does he feel like talking about how Hyunggu was getting awfully close? No.


	54. HS2-24 Sleepover 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like last year the boys decide to invade Seungkwan's house for an end-of-the-school-year sleepover!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah, this update is SUPER late compared to my past updating habits for this fic >.< To whoever still reads this: thank you T__T and enjoy~

Seungkwan pushed the couch back further and sighed. “Why are we having a sleepover here again?”

“Because your mother just happens to be out of town again at the end of the school year.” Mingyu answered and helped him create space.

The last few weeks had flown by and another year of high school had come to an end. Like last year they had decided to use Seungkwan's living room as the scene for a celebratory end of the year sleepover. Hansol, Mingyu, Wonwoo, Jihoon, Seokmin, and newcomer of the year Chan had come over right after school was finished. Jisoo had come straight from his college dorms and Jeonghan would be later. It was crazy to think that it had already been a year since the last sleepover. The sleepover where Hansol had finally confessed his feelings for Seungkwan over breakfast.

{Seungkwan's bedroom}

Seungkwan was staring at his bed, contemplating whether dragging his mattress to the living room was going to be worth the effort, when he felt hands wrap around his waist from behind.

“Need help?” Hansol whispered in his ear and softly kissed his neck.

Seungkwan left out a soft moan. “Don't kiss me like that.”

“Why not?” Hansol asked and kissed the other side.

Seungkwan sighed and turned around in Hansol's arms to face him. “Because you know how much I like it and I have a living room filled with people.”

Hansol smiled and pressed a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. “Are you saying that one little kiss is enough to get you going?” He chuckled at the glare he received. “We've been together for almost a year, do you realize that?”

“Do you know who you're talking to? Of course I do. Why do you think I asked you to come with me to visit my dad? It's so we don't have to be apart on our anniversary.”

“Really? I just thought you wanted me to meet him.”

Seungkwan shrugged, “I guess. But really that's not exactly what I'm looking forward to. The area around the town has so many beautiful spots. We'll be able to have the best dates ever when we're there.”

Hansol stroked his hair. “I love you.” He leaned in again and started kissing him with more fire than before.

“I love you too.” Seungkwan mumbled between increasingly hungry kisses. He pulled him down with him to lie on the bed, not so bothered anymore with the thought of the people in the living room.

When he reached Seungkwan's belt Hansol's hand stopped and he pulled back, slightly out of breath. “We probably shouldn't take it any further, should we?” The expression on his face suggested that he wanted to do anything but stop.

“Probably. Unless...how turned on are you? I don't want to be responsible for blue balls.”

“Don't worry. I'll manage.”

“No, Hansol, I'm serious. I don't want you to develop testicle troubles.”

“Babe, really I'll be fine.”

Seungkwan sighed, “My god, Hansol...can't you just fake it, so that I can sort of pretend we don't have a choice but to have sex real quick despite the fact that it's sort of weird and creepy to do it with all of our friends on the other side of the door?”

A smirk spread across Hansol's face. “Please, Seungkwan, please have sex with me so I don't develop a serious health issue. It's a medical emergency.”

“That's more like it.”

<>

“Seungkwan, do you have another blanket for-” Mingyu stood frozen in the doorway. It took him a few seconds to process what he had just walked in on. As soon as he did, he covered his eyes and started to walk backwards, feeling around for the doorknob. “Sorry, sorry. What the fuck. I didn't know you guys were- I wasn't expecting- I'm leaving.”

{Living room}

“That was fast.” Jihoon snorted when Hansol and Seungkwan walked out into the living room. Mingyu clearly hadn't kept what he had seen to himself.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Seungkwan said, trying to pretend he wasn't slightly mortified.

“I'm talking about you two boning in your bedroom.”

“That's not why we were in there! It just happened! Leave us alone! We're in love! It's Mingyu's fault for just barging in!” Seungkwan retorted in a rant.

“How was I supposed to know!?”

“You should have knocked! If a bedroom door is closed, you should always knock!”

“He's not wrong.” Wonwoo nodded.

“Why do you always take Seungkwan's side!” Mingyu pouted at his boyfriend.

Wonwoo shook his head with a smile, “I just think that all of this could have been avoided if you knocked.”

“Or if they didn't have sex while all of us are here.” Jisoo added.

“Why can't they have sex in Seungkwan's own bedroom? It's not a big deal.” Jihoon shrugged. “Did any of us hear anything? No. We wouldn't have even known if Mingyu had some common sense.”

“Can we just stop talking about it?” Hansol mumbled who had a rare blush on his face.

“Please.” Chan agreed. “While you two were, eh, away, we were talking about what movie to watch first. Any suggestions?”

{kitchen}

“Jisoo, tell me again why Jeonghan isn't here?” Seungkwan asked Jisoo who was helping him get the snacks from the kitchen.

“His aunt and uncle are visiting and he doesn't get to see them that often. He said he'll try to get here later tonight or he'll join us for breakfast.”

“Wouldn't you rather be with him then? To meet his family?”

“And miss this? No way.” He laughed, but there was no joy in it.

“Are you guys okay?” Seungkwan asked softly. With both of them away at different colleges, Seungkwan could only imagine how hard it was. The times they saw them together they always looked happy and in love, but there was something off about Jisoo tonight.

“We're fine. He just wanted to spend some time with his family and I-” He broke off his sentence midway and let out a small sigh. “We're fine.”

“Jisoo...”

Jisoo tore open a bag of popcorn and emptied it in a big bowl. “His parents don't know.”

“Don't know what?”

“About us. That we're together.”

“What!?”

Jisoo looked at Seungkwan with a sad smile on his face. “They don't even know he's gay.”

“B-but how? I mean, I don't understand. He seems so confident with his sexuality.”

“He is. He's just not confident his parents will approve.”

“Oh...” Seungkwan certainly knew that feeling. Even with such an accepting mother as he had, he had felt somewhat worried telling her about Hansol and his father was another story. Even so he couldn't imagine being in a serious relationship for over a year and keeping that from either of them. “It doesn't mean that he doesn't value your relationship though! They're two separate things! Right?”

“Right.” Jisoo still sounded a bit sad and Seungkwan wasn't sure how to make it better.

“Have you even ever met them?”

Jisoo nodded. “Yeah, a few times. The first time was so humiliating. I didn't know his parents didn't know. He thought they weren't home and then he introduced me as his friend. I don't want to force him to come out to his parents and I try to not let it get to me, but it sucks.” He took a deep breath and picked up the popcorn. “Come on, the guys are waiting.”

{Later, living room}

It was around ten thirty when the doorbell suddenly rang. “Did we order anything?” Seungkwan asked the group as he stood up, but they all shook no or shrugged. It was a bit late for any food delivery anyway. He went to the front-door and peeked through the peephole. He opened the door with a smile and was immediately pulled into a hug by Jeonghan.

“Surprise!” He said as he followed Seungkwan back into the living room. “What did I miss? Any sudden love confessions like last year? I see Minnie and Hoonie are getting awfully close on the couch over there.” He joked as he walked in and took his place next to Jisoo.

“I'm single and still a little bit heartbroken. You can't make fun of me.” Seokmin frowned. Jihoon was cuddled up to his side. “And leave Jihoon alone too.” He looked around the room and added in a pointlessly hushed voice, “I think he broke up with his boyfriend recently.”

“I can hear you, you know? I'm right here.”

“Is that true, Jihoon? Why didn't you tell us?” Seungkwan asked.

“I don't need you to throw me a pity party. _I_ broke up with _him_.”

“Oh...why?”

Jihoon shrugged. “Because he wanted it to be exclusive and I didn't see that happening, but I'm not a cheater. So.”

Jeonghan fell back against Jisoo's chest with a loud sigh, “We, as a group, could have our own daytime soap opera. Break ups, jealousy, secret past affaires, people losing their virginity left and right. Except maybe Chan. But he's a baby and how is he supposed to ever find a girlfriend anyway. Going to an all boys school and hanging with us lot.”

Chan scoffed. “I'm doing just fine.”

“Y-you got a girlfriend?” Seokmin asked.

“No. But that doesn't mean I'm not fine. Hanging with you lot.”

“What affaires are you even talking about?” Jihoon asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe affaire is a big word, but don't think I didn't hear about all that make out drama involving Seungkwan and Mingyu.”

Seungkwan threw a pillow in his direction. “So glad you've joined us tonight, Jeonghan. Don't forget about your own soap opera worthy story line.”

Jeonghan laughed, “Oh yes, my steady monogamous relationship to the only person I ever really dated. Scandalous. How could I forget.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “How about the fact that you-” He didn't finish what he was going to say seeing the pleading look on Jisoo's face. “You know what, nevermind. Now that you're here, how about we take a group pic?”

After taking a few photos, Jeonghan pulled a bottle of sparkly wine out of his bag. “I brought a little something to celebrate our fresh high school graduates: Seokmin, Jihoon and Wonwoo. Obviously Wonwoo is the smartest one seeing as he'll be going to my college, but congratulations to all three of you!”

“We can't drink that here! What if my mom finds out!”

“Relax, my child.” Jeonghan said as he opened it. “It's just one bottle between the nine of us.”

Seungkwan sighed and gave in easily, “Fine. I guess it's alright.”

<>

“Do you still think I smell nice?” Hansol had his arm around Seungkwan's shoulder and the scene from last year, Seungkwan close to him almost asleep, ran through his mind.

“What do you mean?”

“Last year at the sleepover. Just before falling asleep you said I smell nice.”

“I did? I don't remember that. Are you sure you didn't dream it?”

“It felt like a dream.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes a little bit, but still leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. “Baby, you smell like a lumberjack in a pine forest.”

“Is that good?”

“That's amazing. Do you know how sexy lumberjacks are? Or how good a pine tree smells?”

“Oh yeah? Well, you smell like-”

“Guys, please, if you're going to have sex again at least don't do it right in front of us.” Wonwoo joked.

“If anyone is going to have sex I think it should be us.” Mingyu said, “They're not the ones who are going to see a lot less of each other now that one of them is going to college.”

“Wow, you really went from being disgusted by me having sex in my own bed to wanting to have sex in my house, Kim Mingyu.”

“I didn't say we had to do it here and now! I'm just saying, that you two have all the time in the world to be clingy and gross, while my boyfriend is off to live in a dorm in a few weeks.”

“You'll be okay, Mingyu. Me and Jeonghan only see each other on weekends and it's not all bad to have your own experiences too.”

“Easy for you to say, you're _both_ in college. I'm stuck in high school for another year.”

“Hey! You still have me!” Seungkwan said.

“And Hansol and Chan.” Seokmin added.

“Don't be so negative, Mingyu.” Seungkwan continued. “Look on the bright side. Taesung is gone too, according to Chan you have quite a few underclassmen who think you're cool for some reason, and we can start figuring out what to do after high school. I can just feel it. Next school year is going to be great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jihoon broke up with Chanyeol (did people guess it was Chanyeol he was dating???), he's not ready for a serious commitment  
> -Seokmin is a sad single rn  
> -place your bets now on who Wonwoo's roommate is going to be in college!  
> -What do you think about Jeonghan not having told his parents yet about Jisoo?
> 
> Two options for next chapter: either I make a chapter where Hansol and Seungkwan go to visit Seungkwan's father and have a date OR I skip that and continue with the next school year (either way there will be another short flashback to Seungkwan's wedding day like at the very beginning of this fic). The next year will probably be a lot shorter, because not THAT much happens? Well, some big things happen for some people I guess o_o


	55. HS2-25 Happy Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan and Hansol spend some time with Seungkwan's father and it doesn't all go smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been pre-occupied with some writer's block (even though I already have most of the story planned out???) and other fic ideas running around in my head T__T (Jeonghan x Jihoon arranged married angst anyone?). But please nejoy this little update!

The short car ride with Seungkwan's father to his house was quiet. The conversation was only surface-deep and Hansol couldn't tell if it was because he was there or if they were always like this. Seungkwan almost never talked about his father and Hansol usually felt it was best to stay away from the subject. But as a result he knew very little about the man and didn’t know what to talk about. So he stayed quiet for the most part.

They pulled up at the house that used to belong to Seungkwan’s grandparents. It was quite old, but it seemed to be in good shape. They got out of the car and got their stuff out of the trunk.

“Why don’t you put your stuff away upstairs and we’ll have dinner. Hansol, I’ve made up the bed in the room across from Seungkwan’s.” His father said when they entered.

“What are you talking about?” Seungkwan said in a pointed tone. “He’s sleeping in my room with me.”

“It's fine, Kwannie. Seungkwan.” His eyes switched between Seungkwan and his father. He never fought with his mother, but there was a completely different dynamic between him and his dad. 

“Mom lets him sleep in my room.” Seungkwan knew that this would anger his father. He knew that he hated the 'mom lets me' argument and if anything it would just cause him to be more headstrong. 

“Watch your tone, Seungkwan! You're just a teenager and you're in my house.”

“You're so _old_.” Seungkwan spat.

To Seungkwan's surprise his father didn't start yelling. Instead he sighed and slumped down into a nearby seat. “I don't want to fight, Seungkwan.”

“I don't either.” Seungkwan mumbled, resisting the urge to add _'so you should just let us sleep in the same room'_. “Come on.” He said to Hansol and he stomped off in the direction of the stairs.

“Thank you, Mr. Boo.” Hansol nodded politely to the older man and followed suit. 

Once upstairs Seungkwan threw open the door to one of the rooms and threw his bag inside. “That’s my room.” He threw open another door. “And this is your room apparently.” He stepped inside with a scowl on his face and he walked over to the bed. He stared down at it. “I can’t believe he wants us to sleep in separate rooms! What even for?”

Hansol walked over to him and rubbed his arm to calm him down. “You know why…”

“Yeah. Because he's afraid we're going to do anything ‘ _gay’_ in his house. As if we haven't already had sex.” 

“Let's just respect his rules while we're here. I don't want to cause any trouble and make a bad impression.” 

“He's the one making a bad impression.” 

“Do you think he'd let your sisters sleep in the same room with their boyfriends?” 

Seungkwan bit his lip. He probably wouldn't. Not when they were still in high school at least. His father was a lot less liberal than his mother. “It’s still stupid.” He mumbled.

“But maybe not so much about it being _gay_? My parents didn’t want us to close the door at first, remember?”

“Maybe.”

“Let’s just go have dinner. Think about how it’s our anniversary tomorrow. That’s nice, right?”

<>

“So…” Seungkwan’s father said as he broke the silence that had fallen about fifteen minutes into dinner. “Last year of high school coming up. Almost time for college.”

“Yup.” Seungkwan said and he took another bite of food.

“Have you decided what you want to do yet?”

“Dad, it’s vacation. Why do you have to remind me of how stressful next year is going to be?” Another silence. “I’ve been thinking maybe something like early childhood education. Become a kindergarten teacher or something.” He added, knowing he was feeling annoyed at whatever his father said for no real reason.

“You never told me that.” Hansol added to the conversation.

“It’s just a thought...I don’t know.” Seungkwan mumbled back.

“I think you’d be good at it.” His father said.

“Oh yeah?” Seungkwan wasn’t sure if his dad really thought that or if he was just doing his best to keep the peace.

“I do. You have your mother’s caring side, but you’re not a pushover.”

“Are you calling mom a pushover?”

“That’s not what I said. I’m just saying I think that if you want to be a kindergarten teacher, I think you’d be a good one.”

“I have no idea yet what I want to do.” Hansol blurted out. He felt it was best to keep the conversation moving before those two found something to fight over again.

“Seungkwan told me you’re fluent in English? I’m sure that’ll come in handy.”

With Hansol there as their pacifier, the conversation between the three men started to flow more. The rest of the evening after dinner was mostly spent watching TV. Seungkwan didn’t mind that Hansol had decided to sit in a chair by himself instead of next to him on the couch. This way neither of them had to think about what level of intimacy they were okay with displaying in front of his father. 

{Night}

The screen of his phone was the only light in the room and Hansol was staring at it. He and Seungkwan had been texting, both in their respective rooms, but it was taking him longer to reply this time. He heard the door opening and he quickly put his phone down. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. “Should you be in here?” He whispered as he held up the blanket so Seungkwan could climb in bed with him.

“Shh, just be quiet. It's almost midnight which means it's almost our anniversary. I refuse to be alone in my bed when you're just a few meters away.”

“Is that really why? You’re not just here because you want to piss off your dad?”

“I don't want to piss off my dad.”

“Are you sure?”

Seungkwan buried his face in Hansol's chest. “We just don't get along. I know he's trying, but I also know that really he still wishes I wasn't gay. I bet that if I showed up with a girl and declared that I wasn't gay after all, he would happily let me sleep in the same room with her.”

“You don't know that. Try to look at the positive. At least he's trying. Right?”

“I don't like being here. In this house.”

“Did your parents fight a lot? Before getting divorced?”

Seungkwan nodded against Hansol's chest. “They always tried to keep it down, but honestly the silent stares filled with anger they gave each other were worse than the yelling. They get along better now that they’re not together anymore.” He pushed himself up and positioned himself on top of his boyfriend. He leaned down and pressed a kiss on his lips. “I’m glad you’re here with me right now.” He wanted to kiss him again, but was stopped by Hansol’s hands grabbing his cheeks and keeping him in mid-air. 

“Seungkwan, I think it’s past midnight now, so I just want to say happy anniversary. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I made a fool out of myself over breakfast. At least I stopped being an idiot and finally blurted out how I felt. Let’s continue to keep making memories together. Even the not so great ones are pretty great, because they’re part of our story. I love you.” 

As much as he could with Hansol squeezing his cheeks together, Seungkwan smiled. “You’re still an idiot. But you’re my idiot.” He was pulled down for a kiss. He slid down his boyfriend’s chest and placed his chin on his stomach, staring up at him. “I don’t really think you’re an idiot. I love you. I’m sorry for sometimes being a bit dramatic or pushing my own emotions without thinking about what you are feeling.”

Hansol ran a hand through Seungkwan’s hair. “Don’t apologize so much. You don’t have to. Just be you, Boo. Just be you and I’ll continue to love you.” 

“Stop it, I’m going to cry.”

“What do you mean going to?” Hansol chuckled. He attempted to stroke Seungkwan’s cheek with his thumb, but his hand got slapped away.

“Shut up! You _just_ said I should be me. You should know I cry easily.”

“I wasn’t saying you shouldn’t cry, babe. Now come here next to me and go to sleep.”

With a pout on his lips Seungkwan crawled up to lie down next to him. He wiggled his arm underneath Hansol’s and snuggled closer. “I take it back. You are an idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Seungkwan's dad really is trying, but Seungkwan can't help but feel that his sexuality is being tolerated rather than accepted.  
> -Fluff slows me down, so I won't be writing their actual dates, lol. They have fun. Imagine Verkwan going to Jeju and ziplining and stuff.  
> -Next we will have a short flashforward to Seungkwan's wedding day and after that their last year of high school begins!
> 
> People still reading this?
> 
> p.s. Boo Seungkwan, I hope you recover quickly T___T My poor child. Mingyu, please give him bear hugs.


	56. Ready - a short flashforward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short flashforward to Seungkwan's wedding day right before he's about to walk down the aisle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reason for this flashforward? I wanted to write it? That's it. lol.

Seungkwan watched the door close and he was by himself again. With nothing else to do he turned to the mirror to make sure the hug from before hadn't messed up his suit.

There was another knock on the door.

“Just checking on my favorite groom.”

“Are you supposed to have a favorite?” Seungkwan snickered as he turned to look at Jeonghan.

“As if you don't like being my favorite.” He walked over and started plucking at Seungkwan's hair. “So, why did I just see groom number two sneak out of here? Don't you know it's bad luck for-”

“Only if someone is wearing a wedding dress.” Seungkwan parroted his fiancee.

“Hmm, in that case I guess it's safe. You haven't done that since high school. Unless you have some kink I don't know about.”

“That's what I said! About the high school part, not the kink part.” Seungkwan gently slapped his friend's hand away.

“Oh yeah? Well, it was one memorable play. Although more so the drama surrounding it.” He chuckled, amused by the memories flowing back. “We should all get together and watch the video once you're back from your honeymoon.”

Seungkwan groaned, “I forgot you taped it. Please never speak of it again. Some of our friends have never seen it and I'd like to keep it that way.”

“That's what you think.”

“Yoon Jeonghan, stop upsetting me on my wedding day or I swear I'll leave a one-star review!”

Jeonghan did not seem impressed by the threat and simply laughed it off. He took hold of Seungkwan's shoulders and looked him in the eye. “So? Are you ready? As soon as Cheollie has _finally_ decided that all the flower arrangements are perfect I think we're about ready to start.”

Seungkwan pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling nervous. This was it. He was about to walk down the aisle and get married. “What if I forget my vows?”

“I'm sure you won't. Even if you do, It'll be fine. Just say what you feel.”

“What if I start crying?”

“Seungkwan, the room is filled with people who know and love you. We'd be more surprised if you don't start crying.”

Seungkwan frowned, but didn't retort and Jeonghan could see the nerves creeping up all over his face about to get the better of him. “Babe, baby, booty. Everything is under control. The most adorable flower boy and girl are on stand-by, photographers ready to snap every second, you look amazing. Just enjoy it. It'll be over before you know it. Trust me. I've been there, remember? And _I_ had the added stress of being my own wedding planner. Not to mention that my best man was Jihoon, so I didn't have anyone to calm me down in the nice way that I'm doing right now.”

Seungkwan scoffed, but it was followed by a smile. “Thank you, Hannie.”

They were interrupted by Jeonghan getting a message through his headset. He turned away to answer. “Cheol?...Finally! Took you long enough! Poor Seungkwan is about to lose his mind waiting! Yes, yes, I know the flowers are important...Okay, we're on our way.” Once again he locked eyes with Seungkwan. “Ready?”

Seungkwan took a deep breath. “Ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What we learn from this: Jeongcheol wedding planners! Jeonghan married, Jihoon was his best man. (hmm who could those two adorable flower boy and girl be?)
> 
> Also, there's going to be a play in Seungkwan's last year of high school and it's the cause for some drama?


	57. HS3-1 Start of Senior Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan starts his senior year in high school. Seating is decided and a new(ish) classmate enters the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to season 3, lol.

The final year of his high school career was about to begin and Seungkwan was determined to make the most of it. While he thought his club activities would look all right on his college application, he felt like he needed something extra. That was why he was planning to become the class vice-president. In most cases the class would elect the most popular kid (not Seungkwan) for president and the one that made the most sense in terms of useful skills like organization and communication with teachers (possibly Seungkwan) for vice-president and he was set on gaining at least some sort of council title to slap on his resume. Hansol was going to be president of the English club this year and Mingyu didn't seem to care about these things. Although Seungkwan thought it would be good for Mingyu to occupy himself with something now that his boyfriend was away.

Wonwoo had settled into his dorm room about a week ago. Most information surrounding who Wonwoo would spend a room with this upcoming year, however, came from Jeonghan. According to him, Wonwoo was getting his money worth from the noise-canceling headphones he bought. His roommate was an energetic, but friendly guy who decorated the wall on his side of the room with a huge blacklight poster of a tiger.

But as happy as Jeonghan was reporting on Wonwoo's new roommate, he was equally bitter about both Jihoon and Seokmin going to the same university as Jisoo instead of his. He had not made this a secret ever since it became clear none of his former music club buddies were going to join him and was now constantly spamming their old group chat with pictures of himself so that ' _you can get a taste of what you're missing out on_ '.

Meanwhile, Seokmin and Jihoon had become roommates after Jihoon decided he didn't like his roommate within five seconds of meeting him and forced him to switch with Seokmin before they had even started unpacking. He had not taken into consideration just how loud Seokmin could get. However, seeing as no reports of murder on campus had come out yet, most of them figured they were doing fine.

Back at high school, Seungkwan was eager to get to the classroom to secure a seat so that, unlike last time, they wouldn't sit all the way in the back. He promised Chan they would listen to him talk about his new girlfriend, who he had met on vacation and went to school on the other side of town, later and he pulled Hansol and Mingyu with him to their classroom. Once there he walked over to the tables next to the wall, but about halfway down the class. “I am willing to compromise.” He said. “You two still get your precious wall, but I won't have to sit all the way in the back. Also, I want to sit next to Hansol this year.”

“Fine. But I'm sitting _behind_ you two then.” Mingyu pouted. He understood Seungkwan wanted to sit next to his boyfriend for a change, but he wasn't comfortable sitting further to the front. He was sure the teacher would call on him far more often if he didn't sit one row directly behind Seungkwan, who was far more eager to answer teacher questions than he was.

“Aw, but-”

“Hansol, I swear if you complain about not sitting behind Mingyu because he's your sleep shield! It's time for you to focus. This is our senior year and-”

“Hey guys!” Hyunggu said as he walked up to them and interrupted their discussion about seating. “Looks like we're in the same class this year!”

Hansol and Seungkwan, both unaware of the interactions the other had had with their basketball teammate, quickly put their bags on tables next to each other. “Oh, hey!” Seungkwan said with just a little bit too much over the top enthusiasm. It wasn't that he didn't want to be in the same class as him, but he felt a bit awkward after that moment in the locker-room. “How about that. We're just picking our seats.”

“Great.” Hyunggu replied. “Do you mind if I sit here?” He asked as he placed his bag onto the desk right behind Seungkwan.

“No, not at all. Go ahead. If you don't mind sitting next to Mingyu.”

“Of course not.” Hyunggu threw a charming smile Mingyu's way. “Are you guys staying with the basketball team again this year? I'm thinking about taking up the captain's role if everybody's okay with that.”

“Yeah, we're both staying. Right, Ba- Boo?” Being almost exclusively around people who knew about them all summer had made it so that Hansol's 'filter' he used at school was a bit rusty and he almost let a 'babe' slip out. He didn't really want to have to explain to Hyunggu that not only was Seungkwan not gay, he was dating him. “You should, by the way. Become captain.”

“Yeah!” Seungkwan agreed. This time his enthusiasm was more genuine. With Hyunggu he wouldn't have to worry about any homophobic shit. He knew Hansol wasn't interested in becoming captain and he was spreading himself thin enough as it was.

They made some small talk with Hyunggu about their vacations until their homeroom teacher told everybody to be quiet. “Welcome everybody to your, hopefully, final year of high school. A few things on the agenda today. First of all, it has been decided that this year our school will hold a cultural festival before the Winter break and all senior classes will have to perform some sort of play.” The class instantly filled with groans of displeasure. “Quiet, please! You will get a bit of freedom in deciding on the play, so take this as an opportunity to do something creative. Or not and just choose some random prince saves princess story. Either way, it's a requirement, so no use moaning and groaning about it. Moving on to the next point, the student council for this class. Anybody who is interested can put their name in and we'll have a vote next homeroom.”

As much as Seungkwan tried to keep his focus, every once in a while his gaze would wander over to the desk to his left. He was proud to see that Hansol was not only still awake, he was actually taking notes (or doodling, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt). He already thought his boyfriend was beyond handsome any time of the day, but seeing him all serious gave Seungkwan the sudden urge to distract him. Or, more accurately, he wanted Hansol to be distracted by his presence. Last year he said that he liked sitting one row behind Seungkwan because he could stare at him, so why was he not glancing over at him now. Seungkwan's own stares started to linger longer and with shorter breaks in between until he finally caught Hansol looking back. Perhaps sitting next to each other had been a mistake. How was he ever going to get any work done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -A person with a huge tiger poster, Oh WHOEVER could that be.  
> -Jeonghan likes Wonwoo and he's happy he has another familiar face, but it's not like they knew each other that well. By the time Jeonghan graduated high school Wonwoo and Mingyu had JUST gotten together.  
> -A play you say. (hint about what kind of play it will be: this class as a whole is not very creative/imaginative)  
> -Enter Hyunggu, the guy (gay?) with a crush on maybe Seungkwan AND Hansol? HMMMM


	58. HS3-2 Role assignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A play has been chosen and now it's time for the class to assign all the roles. The princess will be played by...

Sometimes Seungkwan felt like it was unfair that from day one at this school his classmates had singled him out and assumed his sexuality. Just because they were right didn't make it feel any better. Especially since his best friend and boyfriend didn't get the same treatment. This was once again made painfully clear when it was time for the class to assign the roles of their play.

Earlier they had voted on the class council and Seungkwan had been pleased to have successfully gotten the role of vice-president like he had wanted. Their first order of business was the play. The class had chosen a story of a prince going on adventures, fighting some monsters and, of course, saving a princess in the end. It wasn't the most original of stories, but it was the one that had somehow won the class vote. Seungkwan felt like most of his classmates were somewhat indifferent about the whole thing.

As the newly appointed class vice-president he wrote down all the roles to be assigned on the board. “Right. So, we'll figure out stuff like costuming and set design later. Let's first assign all the acting roles.”

“Well, I think it's clear who the princess will be.” One of the boys said loudly. A few others snickered.

Seungkwan knew what was being suggested. Even though he wanted to sink into the ground, he kept his cool. “Are you volunteering?” He clapped back.

“Come on, Seungkwan.” Another classmate said, “Take one for the team. You're the best princess we have. Nobody else wants to do it anyway.”

“I-”

“Let's have a vote then!” The first boy spoke again. “All in favor of princess Seungkwan, raise your hand!”

An overwhelming majority of the hands shot up and Seungkwan knew there was no fighting this. He sighed. “Fine. Whatever.” He turned around and reluctantly wrote his own name next to the princess role. He didn't mind being in the play. Not at all. He liked being on stage. But he did not like getting this role pushed on him.

“But wait a minute. If Seungkwan is the princess who's going to want to be the prince?”

Seungkwan froze.

“Right...” There were a few murmurs going around the class. Seungkwan looked to the side of the room and locked eyes with Hansol. He tried to grow instant telepathic powers so he could beg him to offer to play the role, but Hansol either didn't understand what he wanted or he just didn't want to do it.

“I'll do it.” Hyunggu said with a casual tone to his voice.

Seungkwan felt grateful that he didn't have to stand there listen to them debating how nobody wanted to be the prince if he was the princess. Maybe it was better if it wasn't Hansol anyway. “Okay. So, Hyunggu will be the prince then.” He sent him a small smile and quickly wrote his name on the board, giving him no time to possibly change his mind.

Next on the list was the role of the prince's best friend. As it turned out, their class wasn't filled with a lot of actors and it was awfully quiet. After asking a few times if anybody wanted to do it Seungkwan was growing impatient so he decided to take matters into his own hands. “Mingyu? How about you?”

Mingyu looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. “M-me?”

“Yes. I think that'll be great. Alright, Mingyu it is.” He was about to turn around and write the name on the board when he was once again interrupted by a classmate.

“Wait, wait, wait. I'm sorry, but if we put Mingyu and Hyunggu next to each other everybody is going to assume Mingyu is the prince. He's taller and has more prince aura.”

Seungkwan raised a questioning eyebrow, “Prince aura?”

“Yeah, you know. Like, as if he could handle a sword or something.” The boy turned around and looked at where Mingyu and Hyunggu sat. “No offense, Hyunggu. You have a decent prince aura, but I think you two should switch roles.”

The classroom filled with agreeing voices and Seungkwan wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't meant to drag Mingyu into the lead role. He just didn't want to be alone and he thought it might be good for him to play some smaller role and get him out of his comfort zone for a bit. “Let's settle down! We already assigned Hyunggu to the role of the prince and-”

“Hold on!” The class president stepped forward. “As class president _and_ director of the play, I'm making an executive decision. Mingyu, you'll be the prince. Hyunggu will be the best friend.”

<>

Just as they finished assigning the stagehand roles, the bell rang and signaled it was time for lunch. Seungkwan started to wipe the board clean as the others were leaving. He let out a surprised cry of pain when the back of his head was hit with something. He turned around and looked right into Mingyu's angry face. “What the fuck, Gyu!”

“That's my line! Thanks a lot.”

“It wasn't my fault! I only suggested you play the best friend. I don't know why everybody suddenly wanted to make you the prince!”

“As if I wouldn't be angry even if I was 'only' playing the best friend, Seungkwan! Why did you even drag me into that in the first place!”

“Because!” Seungkwan calmed himself down by letting out a short sigh. “Because, I didn't want to stand there on stage as a _princess_ all by myself and have everybody stare at me. At least if you're there suffering with me it might actually be kind of fun...I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for you to get the lead.”

Mingyu's anger seemed to visibly sink down and he nodded. “I guess, I'll make it work. I have prince aura apparently.”

“Oh god, don't let that get to your head. The last thing I need is for you to start realizing just how handsome you are.”

Mingyu laughed, “Just because you say it as if you're insulting me doesn't mean you didn't just actually say I'm handsome.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “Whatever.” His eyes shifted to Hyunggu who was standing close by, listening to their conversation. “Hyunggu, I'm sorry about that mess from earlier. Thank you for volunteering to play the prince.”

“I got demoted real fast.” Hyunggu chuckled.

“I'm sorry! I-”

“Nah, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I'm just happy to be in the play with you, Seungkwan. I know you didn't really want the role, but I think the best way to handle this is by being the most fabulous princess ever!”

Seungkwan chuckled, “Success is the best revenge. Something like that?”

“Exactly. Just have fun with it. I'm sure you'll be great. And I can't wait to see it. Even though I won't be playing your prince.”

“Eh, yeah.” This time Seungkwan's chuckle was more nervous than entertained and he felt both Mingyu and Hansol staring at them.

“See you guys after lunch.” Hyunggu said to the three of them and walked away.

“Eh...” Mingyu said, “I don't know Hyunggu all that well, but was he flirting with you?”

“Don't be ridiculous. He's always like that.”

“He's always flirting with you?”

“He wasn't flirting with me.”

“Okay.” Mingyu said, clearly unconvinced.

“He wasn't! As if he would openly flirt with me like that. In front of you two.”

“I said okay. He wasn't flirting.” Mingyu definitely still think that he was. He threw a glance in Hansol's direction who didn't look too happy.

Seungkwan also looked at his boyfriend, but frowned right back. “If you're going to be upset about Hyunggu volunteering to be the prince or about Mingyu actually playing the prince, you should have volunteered yourself. I was totally sending you eye signals.”

“I'm not an actor, Seungkwan.”

“And I'm not a princess, but here we are.” He walked passed them to get his bag from his desk. “Let's just go to lunch. I'm sure Chan will be delighted with the opportunity to make fun of me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Okay so...Hyunggu TOTALLY has prince aura irl, hahaha  
> -Hansol will just be a stagehand (maybe he'll do the lighting)  
> -the play they're doing isn't any specific play, lol  
> -Was Hyunggu flirting? (I think we know that he probably was)


	59. HS3-3 Chan needed a shave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonwoo, Mingyu and Seungkwan and Hansol are out on a little date and waiting for Chan to get there to introduce them to his girlfriend. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little chapter. Currently have a short vacation, so will probably update more soon!

“So, let me get this straight.” Wonwoo said as he looked at Seungkwan from across the table. “Last year you guys couldn't continue with music club because there was no teacher available or no funds or some bullshit reason, but this year they suddenly have you doing a play that, from what I hear, nobody even really wants to do?”

Seungkwan sipped his drink. “Yup.”

“Man, I'm so glad to be done with high school.” Seeing Mingyu's pout from the corner of his eyes he quickly added, “Although I miss you guys.”

“It's a good thing we'll be coming to that off-campus party in a few weeks then.” Seungkwan smiled.

“What party?” Hansol asked, this being the first he heard about it.

“Jeonghan _just_ told me about it and he's trying to see if the band can perform there. We might be a bit rusty, but it'll be fun to play again. Besides we still have a few weeks to prepare and-”

“Why didn't _you_ tell us about this party?” Mingyu asked his boyfriend.

“I wasn't planning on going, actually. Although my roommate has been loud about it. But he's loud about most things.”

“ _Anyway_.” Seungkwan took the conversation back. “It'll be a good chance for all of us to hang out together. If the band performs, Jihoon, Jisoo and Seokmin will all be there too. You'll go too, right, Wonwoo? We can meet that roommate of yours. What was his name again?”

“Sure, I'll go if you guys will be there. And his name is Soonyoung. I think you'll like him.”

“I thought you said he was loud.” Mingyu mumbled.

“He _is_ loud.” Wonwoo chuckled. “But he's also pretty funny and kind. But please, do not bring up the subject of tigers. I beg of you. I can't take any more of his tiger obsession.”

“Okay, great!” Seungkwan was getting more excited about this party. He wanted a re-do for that college party they had been to last year and he and Hansol had gotten into a fight. “I'll ask Chan when he gets here, but I'm sure he'll go.”

“Where is he anyway?” Hansol wondered.

Seungkwan clicked his tongue, “That's what I'd like to know. Hasn't he waited long enough to introduce us to his girlfriend? I'm going to text him again.”

“He's only a little late.” Mingyu pointed out. “Stop parenting him.”

“Why are you so grumpy today?” Seungkwan replied with annoyance in his voice. “And I am not _parenting_ him. I just want to know why he's so late.” He put his phone down, however, and didn't send the text. Not even five minutes later Chan walked in. Alone.

“So, where's your girlfriend?” Mingyu asked with interest. He accused Seungkwan of acting like a parent to their youngest friend, but he himself wasn't much better when it came to being curious about his relationship.

“She's not coming.” He stated plainly.

“Oh, because she's not real?” Seungkwan joked, but quickly stopped laughing when Chan didn't seem amused in the slightest.

“No. Because we broke up.”

“Oh...I'm sorry.” Seungkwan stood up from his seat and gestured for Chan to sit down. “I'll get you something to drink. Do you want a cookie?”

The table was quiet until Seungkwan returned and sat back down.

“What happened, man?” Hansol asked.

Chan took a big bite from the chocolate chip cookie Seungkwan had gotten him and sighed. “So...when I first asked her if she wanted to meet my friends she seemed happy about it. She suggested she'd bring some of her friends too so that it would be like a group date. When I told her that you guys are already couples, with each other, she kind of...I don't know...she didn't say anything bad, but I got the feeling she didn't like it. Then today when I showed up to pick her up, she started to complain about how I should make more friends. Straight friends. Because she wanted a _real_ _couple_ to hang out with.”

The table remained quiet as Chan took a moment to take a sip of his drink before continuing to tell the story. “I told her she was being rude. Then she started to cry, saying that I was the one being inconsiderate of her feelings and that she didn't want to be the only girl. I tried to calm her down and tell her that I never said she couldn't invite her friends along just that it wouldn't be a date type situation and that I wasn't going to go out of my way to find new friends just for that reason. And then...she really showed her true colors. She told me that if all I do is hang around with gay guys, people are going to think I'm gay. I told her I didn't care and then she cried some more because she didn't want people to think she was a beard or whatever. Then, eh, I kind of snapped and said that if she was my beard I was in need of a shave.”

Seungkwan let out a snort, but quickly pressed his hand against his mouth to silence himself. “Sorry...it's not funny.” He lightly patted Chan on the shoulder for comfort.

Chan groaned in frustration. “I really liked her. Why did she have to turn out to be so...so...”

“Homophobic?” Wonwoo offered.

Chan chewed his bottom lip. “Yeah, I guess.”

“At least you found out pretty quickly! You've only been dating her for, what? Two months?” Mingyu added.

Chan shrugged and the others weren't sure what to say either.

“So, eh, _Skeletons in the Closet_ might be making a comeback.” Hansol said in an attempt to get Chan's mind focused on something else.

“Who?” Chan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Seungkwan gasped with feigned shock at his ignorance. “Legendary Battle of the Band winners? So epic they only performed in public once?”

Chan deadpan stared at him and Seungkwan sighed. “It's the band me, Jeonghan, Jisoo, Jihoon and Seokmin made the year before you joined our school.”

He let out a long understanding 'oooh' and nodded. “I mean, I knew you guys had a band or whatever, but no-one ever told me the name. Are you guys really going to perform again?”

“Maybe. There's this party in a few weeks and we might perform there.”

“Cool! I totally want to see you guys play.” Chan's face broke out in a smile and the mood of the whole table became lighter. He leaned his head down on Seungkwan's shoulder. He liked to act aloof at times and they didn't always see eye-to-eye, but Chan knew he could always count on Seungkwan and his other friends to be there for him. Even if he was third-(or in this case fifth-)wheeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Poor Chan  
> -Recently it came to my attention that not everybody knows what a 'beard' is in the way that I'm using it here. It's when a gay person dates someone from the opposite sex as to give the impression to the outside world that they're actually straight.  
> -I think next time we'll have the first rehearsal for the play and Hyunggu has an interesting suggestion for a plot change


	60. HS3-4 Plot twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunggu suggests a few changes be made to the plot of their play that gives him and Seungkwan a lot more scenes together. Hansol is not so happy with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drink water. Wear a mask. Get some vitamines. Pet a cat (or dog...maybe a rabbit).

All the students who had actual lines in the play were gathered in their classroom to go over the script for the first time. Seungkwan groaned reading his dialogue.

“What's wrong?” Hyunggu, who was sitting next to him, asked.

“ _Oh_ _my_ _brave prince, thank you for saving me from this dreadful tower._ ” Seungkwan read the lines. “Where is the prince who will save me from this dreadful play? They can't expect me to look at Mingyu's face and call him 'my brave prince'.”

“Hey!” Mingyu said from his other side. “I can be brave!”

Seungkwan glared at him. “My point is that this play is horrible. It's so lame.”

“I couldn't agree more.” Hyunggu said. “And that is why I'm going to propose some changes.”

“What kind of changes?”

A smile spread across Hyunggu's face and he stood up, holding his own script up. “Guys! Can I have everybody's attention?” The others settled down and listened. “We all realize this play is completely unoriginal and boring, right?” There were some concurring murmurs from their classmates. “How about we switch it around?”

“What do you mean?” Their class president and play director questioned, looking over the edge of his glasses.

“How about the prince doesn't save the princess, but the princess, along with the prince's best friend, has to save _him_?”

“Dude, we'd have to rewrite almost the entire thing!” One boy, who was playing the part of the king, objected.

“So? If it means we won't be boring everybody to tears, isn't that worth it? Besides, we can still use parts from this script for the roles that don't need a change. I don't mind helping out with the writing.” He looked around the classroom. “Come on, guys! Isn't it more fun if what we're doing is better than _this_.” He waved the script around for emphasis.

Their director walked back and forth in front of the whiteboard and nodded. “It's not a bad idea. I like it. But for a change this big I'd like to hear some more opinions. Mingyu? You're the prince. What do you think?”

“Does that mean I'll have fewer lines? Because then I'm all for it.”

“Seungkwan?”

“Anything is probably better than what it is now, so why not?” If he was being honest he'd much rather play a strong empowered princess than a damsel in distress. He never liked those kind of stories anyway.

“Does anybody else have any objections?” Nobody said anything and so it was decided. Hyunggu, the director, and one of the other boys volunteered to re-do the script. Since there wasn't much to do until the new script would be finished they adjourned.

“So?” Hyunggu said to Seungkwan. “Did I save you from the dreadful play?”

Seungkwan laughed. “Yeah, I guess you did.”

“Mingyu better step up his prince game then.” He swung his bag over his shoulder and nodded his head to the both of them. “See you guys tomorrow.”

“Ready to go?” Seungkwan asked Mingyu, but stopped packing his bag when he saw the questioning look his best friend was giving him. “What?”

“Are you still going to deny that he's flirting with you?”

Seungkwan zipped up his bag and picked it up in his arms. “Even if he is, it doesn't mean anything.”

“Oh, I get it.” Mingyu said as if he just cracked the code. “You _like_ that he's flirting with you.”

“No.” Seungkwan replied calmly. “I just don't think it's such a big deal, that's all.”

“Just be careful, all right? Don't forget you have a boyfriend.”

“What exactly are you implying, Kim Mingyu?” Seungkwan poked Mingyu's chest with his finger.

“I'm not implying anything, but you know that if it were the other way around and it was someone flirting with Hansol you wouldn't like it one bit.”

{the next Monday}

Seungkwan sat down at his desk. He was early. Earlier than Mingyu and Hansol anyway. He settled down at his desk and took out his notes for class. He looked up when he was greeted by Hyunggu.

“We finished the script!” He said proudly and dropped a copy on Seungkwan's desk. “So, listen, I was thinking.” He continued talking as he sat down at his seat behind him. “I know we don't have another play meeting until Wednesday, but if you're not busy after school today, why don't you come over to my house and we can get a head start? A lot of the princess' scenes are with the best friend and I'd love to hear what you think about some of the lines.”

“Eh, sure. I guess that's a good idea.”

“Great. It's a date.”

<>

“I'm headed to the roof, okay?” Hansol said when the bell rang for lunch.

“Eh, yeah, sure, that's fine.” Seungkwan knew he should tell Hansol about what he was doing after school. “Oh, right, before I forget. Just FYI, the new script for the play is finished and I have a shit ton more lines and Hyunggu suggested we start rehearsal as soon as possible, so he invited me to his house for later.”

“Just the two of you?”

Seungkwan nodded. He could tell by the way his boyfriend's lips were pressed together in a thin line that he wasn't exactly thrilled. “There are quite a bit of scenes we have together and it's not really necessary for everybody else to be there while we're still just learning the lines and stuff. So that's why he invited me over.”

“What about Mingyu?”

“What about him?”

“He's the prince. Isn't he in any of those scenes?”

“Only the finale I think. I haven't had time to read the whole thing yet. Anyway, there's a whole plot where the princess and the prince's best friend figure out how to save him from the sorcerer now.”

“You know he likes you, right?” Hansol blurted it out, not sure what he wanted to achieve by saying this.

“What are you talking about?” Seungkwan replied as if hadn't picked up on any of the hints Hyunggu had been dropping since last school year.

“Hyunggu. I think he has a crush on you.” He didn't think. He knew.

“Well, even if he does, what do you expect me to do about it? Not talk to him ever?”

“No...” Hansol was well aware of his jealous side, but wasn't he allowed to be just a little bit jealous when his boyfriend was going over to the house of someone who had a crush on him?

Seungkwan glanced around, making sure they were alone, and took his boyfriend's hand. “I'm just going to rehearse the play, all right? I promise I won't even stay for dinner if he asks.”

{Rooftop}

“Why don't you just tell the guy that you two are dating?” Jeonghan's voice said from Hansol's phone. He and Chan were up on the roof and Jeonghan had joined them by way of modern technology.

“Because...” Hansol sighed. “...then I will probably have to explain to Seungkwan that I told Hyunggu that he's straight.”

“Why did you do that?” Chan asked as he popped a gummy worm in his mouth.

“I couldn't just tell him that we're together. We decided that we weren't going to tell people, so I didn't tell him.”

“That sounds like a bullshit excuse, Hansol, not going to lie. And also, why tell him that Seungkwan is _straight_?”

“Okay maybe I was hoping that he would give up on liking Seungkwan if he thought he was straight.”

“He likes Seungkwan?” Jeonghan asked. “Is this you guessing or did he tell you that?”

“He did tell me. But, actually...I thought he had stopped liking him since he kind of...well I think he came on to me? He said that he noticed the way I look at Seungkwan and that maybe we could bond over crushing on a straight guy.”

“This just keeps getting more and more complicated.” Chan sighed.

“Hold up.” Jeonghan interrupted. “When did all of this happen and why is this the first we're hearing of it?”

“It wasn't a big deal, all right? I don't think I made him believe that I was interested and he hasn't made any other moves on me or anything.”

“So what's the problem? Do you think he found out Seungkwan isn't straight and maybe that he thinks he's single?”

“Since the beginning of the year he's been flirting with Seungkwan again! And, like, super obvious.”

“So tell him. Or have Seungkwan tell him.” Jeonghan repeated himself. “But you have to do something. I kind of feel bad for him. This poor guy sounds like he just wants _someone_ to like him back.”

Hansol kicked a pebble across the roof. They were probably right. There was one other problem though. It wasn't just that he had lied to Hyunggu, he had also talked about Seungkwan's sexuality where it wasn't his place and, what he didn't want to admit, what he was really afraid of was that Hyunggu wouldn't stop just because he knew Seungkwan wasn't single.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Okay look they are still in the teenage drama phase of their lives, so please give them a break for being dumb and immature sometimes.  
> -Jeonghan just misses hanging with his friends
> 
> Next time: Seungkwan goes over to Hyunggu's house. What will happen? WIll he tell him? Why or why not? Stay tuned~
> 
> (Any Jeonghoon or Soonhoon shippers here? Who like angst? Go check out my new fic then ;P)


	61. HS3-5 Cat out of the Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan goes over to Hyunggu's house and he has one more suggestion for the plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost time for 24H mv!!! AAh!

Seungkwan followed Hyunggu into the house and took off his coat. “Do you have any siblings?” He asked.

“Yeah, I have a younger sister. But I don't think she's home. We're all alone.”

They went into the living room and while Hyunggu was getting them something to drink, Seungkwan sat down on the couch and pulled out the script for the play from his bag. He looked up when he felt Hyunggu sit down next to him.

“And? It's better than what it was before, right?”

Seungkwan nodded. “Yeah, a lot better.” He smiled. “And I think Mingyu will be grateful his part has been reduced.”

“Well, he didn't seem very thrilled to be in the play in the first place. I have to say, your friendship is so unexpected. I remember him from rumors in the hallways before you came. You seem to have really brightened him up.”

“Oh, eh, thanks? I guess.”

“Does he know? That you're gay, I mean.”

Seungkwan chuckled nervously. He wasn't sure if Mingyu would object to Hyunggu knowing he was gay as well. “Yeah. He knows. It's not a secret with my friends. It's just...high school, you know?”

The other boy nodded.

“Anyway, let's get started on the play, shall we?” Seungkwan said, leading away from the topic.

They read through a few of their scenes together and Seungkwan started to relax more. He hadn't even been aware that he been so nervous to be alone with Hyunggu. He had let Mingyu's words and Hansol's jealousy get into his head. They were both exaggerating. All they were doing was rehearse their parts in the play and having fun doing so. It was the first time Seungkwan was feeling like this play wasn't going to be all that bad. “You guys really did a great job with the rewrite, Hyunggu.” He complimented him. “I like the friendship between our characters.”

“You don't think it's too dry?”

“No. It shows that a relationship between a boy and a girl doesn't always have to be about romance and stuff. They're just friends.”

“Still...” Hyunggu put his script down and looked at Seungkwan. “It might be more interesting for the audience to add something to it.”

“Something like what?” Seungkwan asked, his eyes still on the paper and completely missing the way Hyunggu was scooting closer.

“Something like this.” He hooked his fingers under Seungkwan's chin, lifted his head and pressed their lips together.

It took Seungkwan a moment to realize what was happening, but as soon as he did he backed away with wide eyes and his hands in front of his chest. “H-hansol.” He stammered.

“What?” Hyunggu asked, clearly thrown off by the mention of another boy's name in this situation.

“I have a Hansol. I mean, a boyfriend. I have a boyfriend and it's Hansol.”

“Oh...Really?”

Seungkwan nodded and awkwardly started to chew on his lip. He wasn't sure what else to say.

Hyunggu let out a deep sigh. “I guess he beat me to it. I should have known he was my competition. I just didn't think I had already missed my chance.” He sank back into the couch cushions with a sad little smile on his face. “How long have you been together? If you don't mind me asking?”

“Little over a year.” He mumbled.

“Seriously!?” Hyunggu looked taken aback. “Fuck.” He ran a hand roughly through his hair. “So when Hansol told me you were straight, he just- Okay, I see how it is. No offense, but that's kind of a dick move.”

Seungkwan had been feeling bad up to this point, but Hyunggu talking about his boyfriend in this way rubbed him the wrong way. “We weren't telling people about our relationship and he probably just panicked when you asked him about me. I'm sure he wasn't trying to-”

“Nah, he just didn't like the idea of another boy interested in his boyfriend. And what about you? That time when I told you I was gay and asked you if you had a boyfriend? You knew I was coming on to you, right?”

“That's not- I didn't know what to say. I-”

“Couldn't you have told me you weren't single? Or not interested at the least.”

Seungkwan didn't respond. He just stared at his hands. If he was being honest he had known Hyunggu had been flirting with him. While he felt like he didn't owe it to him to tell him he was dating Hansol, he could have made it clear he wasn't interested in being anything more than friends. Maybe Mingyu was right. Maybe he had liked being flirted with.

“Did you two have fun laughing at my pathetic flirting?”

Seungkwan looked up. “What? No, of course not! I would never do that.” In an attempt to comfort the boy he placed his hand on Hyunggu's. He felt it had been a mistake when he wrapped his thumb over the back of Seungkwan's hand. He quickly pulled his hand back.

“Can you leave now?” Hyunggu said softly.

Without saying another word Seungkwan got up and left.

<>

He didn't go home. Now that the cat was out of the bag he had to talk to Hansol. At least to let him know that he had told Hyunggu that they're dating. So he ended up on Hansol's doorstep. His mother opened the door and let him in. He knocked on the bedroom door before going in.

“Wow, look at that. You're actually doing homework.” Seungkwan joked as he walked in.

Hansol swung his desk chair around. “What are you doing here?”

Seungkwan walked over and leaned down to press a quick kiss on his lips. “What? I can't just come by?”

“Eh, sure, but you never do. Is everything okay?” He watched as Seungkwan sat down on the edge of his bed. “How did things go with Hyunggu?” Perhaps his boyfriend had come by to give him some extra attention, knowing well that he had been jealous.

“So...about that.” Seungkwan started. “We were just rehearsing the play as planned and everything was fine, but then, eh...”

“Then what?” Hansol asked with a hint of worry and suspicion in his voice.

“Well, I told him about us.”

“Oh. Okay, I see.” He sank back into his chair, because, honestly, he felt relieved. “That's okay, I don't mind.”

“Are you sure? Is that why you told him I'm straight?” Seungkwan knew that this wasn't the issue he had come here to talk about, but he couldn't help himself from bringing it up.

“H-how do you know about that?”

“He told me when we were talking some time ago.”

“When?”

“Does that even matter?”

“I just don't see how that would have come up.”

“He, eh, confided in me that he was gay after Taesung had gone off at me again. I told him I was gay too and then he told me what you had said.”

“If this happened last year why are you bringing it up now? And what does it matter even if he thought you were straight? Aren't you always bothered by the way people assume you're gay?”

“Wow. What the fuck. Yes, that bothers me sometimes. It bothers me because they assume and take it as a negative. But you don't see me going around yelling about how straight I am, do you? You didn't have to tell him I was gay either, but why go and say I'm straight?”

“I'm sorry I did that, okay? He was asking me about you and I- I...I didn't want to tell him about us, but I also didn't want him to think he had a chance with you.”

“Don't you trust me?”

“Of course I do!”

“Do you? Because him not having a chance with me has nothing to do with what _he_ thinks or feels. You don't have to worry about someone else liking me, because I only like you.”

“What about you when I danced with that girl at that party last year!” Hansol could slap himself in the face right about now.

“That was totally different! I was jealous and worried that you thought I was boring, not afraid that you would cheat on me!”

“I'm not afraid you're going to cheat on me, Seungkwan. I just don't like the idea of you hanging out with someone that has a crush on you!” He sighed and there was a moment of silence. “It doesn't matter anymore now, does it? You told him we're dating, so that should be the end of that, right?”

“Yeah...” Seungkwan answered slowly. “There's something I should tell you though.”

“What?”

“First of all, it was only for like a second because I _immediately_ pulled away.”

“Pulled away from what?”

“He...kissed me.”

“He did what!?” Hansol jumped up from his chair and Seungkwan stood up as well. He reached out to grab his hand.

“It was only for a nanosecond, I swear! He caught me off guard and I-”

“You shouldn't have been caught off guard!”

Seungkwan let go off Hansol's hand and frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I _told_ you that he likes you!”

“So, what? It's my fault? It's not like I went over there expecting him to kiss me!”

“You were leading him on!”

“I was lea- I- Fuck you!” He yelled back. He felt tears filling his eyes. He hated how easily he cried, he hated fighting with Hansol and he hated this whole situation. All the ways he could have handled things differently were swirling through his head and the way Hansol was responding wasn't helping. “I didn't _want_ him to kiss me. We were just talking about the play and suddenly he kissed me. I don't see how that's my fault.” He sniffed. “I know that I ignored the fact that he was flirting with me, but I can't believe you'd think I'd cheat on you.” He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.

“I told you I don't.” Hansol mumbled. He sighed, letting his negative emotions leave his body with his breath. “I should never have told him you were straight and I also shouldn't be mad at you for not straight up telling him you're taken. After all...” He eyed his boyfriend carefully, “...I also wasn't super clear with him when he kind of came on to me.”

Seungkwan's sad face turned into a frowning one, “Excuse me?”

“It was some time after he asked me about you and he still thought you were straight. He said he saw the way I look at you and that maybe me and him could 'bond' over liking a straight guy.”

Seungkwan crossed his arms. “So you were angry at _me_ , but you had all these secret interactions with Hyunggu?”

“You also didn't tell me about that talk you had with him about you both being gay and all...”

“Right.” They both stared at each other with a sense of hesitance around them.

“So...basically we both had things about Hyunggu we didn't tell each other, but probably should have and we're both sorry about it.”

“So, maybe from now on we agree to just tell each other stuff like this?”

Hansol nodded. “Even if we think the other person might get mad.”

“Yes. Even then. Can we try to put this whole saga behind us?”

“Can I just ask one more thing? What happened after he kissed you?”

“Like I said, I told him about us dating. Then he asked me how long we've been together and when I told him he got a little bit...angry, I guess.”

“Angry?” Hansol furrowed his brows.

“Well, not really angry. But upset. He felt like you and I should have been more clear with him. I think he felt like we were stringing him along on purpose, like we thought it was funny or something.”

“That's ridiculous.”

“Of course I told him that was not the case. Then he asked me to leave, so I did.”

Hansol reached out and lightly patted Seungkwan on his hair. “We're good again, yeah?”

“Yeah. I think we are.” He took a step closer and wrapped his arms around Hansol's waist. “So...” Now that his anger was completely gone he had a need for closeness. “How exactly were you looking at me that it had other people noticing?”

“I must have been staring at your ass, because he said I looked like I wasn't just interested in your personality.”

“Hansol!” Seungkwan lightly slapped his chest, but the smile on his face betrayed his true feelings.

“Can you blame me?” He said and lowered his hand to cup his boyfriend's butt. He nuzzled his neck. “Stay over tonight?”

“It's a school night. And I don't have any clean clothes with me.”

“Borrow some of mine.” Hansol placed a soft kiss on the soft skin. He moved up and caught Seungkwan's lips in a kiss.

“Yeah, all right.” Seungkwan said when their kiss broke. With a smile on his face he pulled him back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -They fight, but not for long usually  
> -Honestly, I think they were both kind of wrong but also didn't really do anything wrong?? (well, Hansol shouldn't have said anything about Seungkwan's sexuality to begin with)  
> -Do you think this will be the end of the 'Hyunggu saga' or not? (hint: they still have to actually do the play)
> 
> But before that! They will go to another college party. Can't possibly go worse than the last one, right?


	62. HS3-6 The Glorious return of 'Skeletons in the Closet'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is time for a band comeback at a college party. Soonyoung introduces himself to Mingyu. Seungkwan hopes this party will be better than the last one. It's definitely not for some people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah Carat Land was so much fun!!! :D Not sure if everybody will be happy with this chapter's ending D:

The last few weeks at school had been somewhat awkward after the incident with Hyunggu. It didn't exactly help that it was near impossible for them to keep more distance between them. He still sat behind him in class, he was captain of the basketball team and, worst of all, they had play rehearsals together. So the off-campus college party this Friday night was a more than welcome break.

While the organizers came from Jeonghan and Wonwoo's college, it seems school affiliations were thrown out the window in favor of a good time. Seungkwan arrived together with Hansol, Mingyu and Chan. The old members of the music club would come out of their indefinite hiatus and perform a few songs later, but first it was time to find their friends who had already arrived.

The place was pretty big, but soon enough they spotted all of them standing around together near a wall. Seungcheol was there too. On their way over, Mingyu was suddenly blocked by a guy with blonde hair and a happy grin on his face.

“Wow, would you look at that, our paths crossed. This must be fate.” The guy ended his terrible opening line with a wink.

“Eh, what?” Mingyu looked at the young man with confusion and cast a side way glance in Seungkwan's direction who was eyeing the cheerful stranger.

“My name is Soonyoung and I think we should see where fate can take us tonight.”

At this point Mingyu noticed the tiger themed shirt he was wearing. “Wait, are you Wonwoo's roommate?” He asked.

“I see my reputation precedes me. Who are you? Did you go to school with him or something?”

“Sort of. I'm Mingyu.”

“Well, Mingyu, I think you and I should get to know each other better. Can I get you a drink?”

“No, I mean, I'm _Mingyu_. Wonwoo's boyfriend.”

Soonyoung's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, “Wonwoo has a boyfriend!? What the fuck! That crazy bastard never even told me he's into men!” He turned around to look at Wonwoo standing with the others a few meters away and swung his arm over Mingyu's shoulder. “He is one sly guy. Keeping such a snack a secret.”

Together they all joined the others. Soonyoung still had a big grin on his face as he poked Wonwoo in the back. When he turned around he looked confused to find him together with his boyfriend.

“I met your roommate.” Mingyu mumbled the obvious.

“I met your _boyfriend_.” Soonyoung beamed with glee. “Why didn't you tell me?” He slapped Wonwoo's shoulder.

“Yeah, why didn't you?” Mingyu was second to ask, but Wonwoo didn't have a chance to respond seeing as Soonyoung continued talking.

“So, is anybody going to introduce me?” He looked around the circle to the people he hadn't met yet.

“Well...” Jeonghan stepped forward. “You seem to have already met Mingyu, he goes to our old high school together with Seungkwan, Hansol, and Chan over there. Then on this side we have Seokmin and Jihoon, fellow high school survivors who go to the same college as _my_ boyfriend Jisoo.”

“Ah, yes, it's good to finally see you all in person. Wonwoo clearly doesn't tell me anything, but luckily Jeonghan was kind enough to tell me all about you lot.” He let out a booming laugh. He stepped forward to shake Jisoo's hand for some reason. “Damn, dude, you have big hands. Kudos.”

“You know what they say about men with big hands..." Jeonghan interjected and he wiggled his eyebrows.

"They need big gloves?" Hansol joked.

Jeonghan laughed. "They sure do. And I always say: no glove, no love."

Jisoo looked at his boyfriend, raising his eyebrows. "No, you don't. Not once have I heard you say that."

"Always use condoms, kids.” Jeonghan continued undisturbed. “Unless you've only ever slept with each other like us. But even then...sometimes you just don't want it to get messy, you know."

"...are you drunk already?” Seungkwan asked him. “What the fuck are you talking about suddenly?"

"Proper condom use."

Soonyoung leaned his elbow on Jihoon's shoulder and nodded. “Very important.”

Jihoon immediately shrugged him off and glared at him, looking him up and down. “Don't touch me.”

“Oh, he's feisty. Say, Jihoon, was it? Do you want to-”

“Dance!” Seungcheol suddenly stepped forward (possibly pushed by Jeonghan). “D-do you want to dance?” His piercing gaze was fixated on Jihoon's face, as if staring intensely would hide his blush.

“Actually I want to go double-check the equipment they have here. For our gig.”

“Can't you do that later, Hoonie? Go and dance with Seungcheol first.” Jeonghan said and he attempted to pull him to the middle of the circle.

“Oh, look how you just volunteered to help me.” Jihoon replied and grabbed him by the wrist.

Seungkwan noticed the way Mingyu was clearly still sulking that Wonwoo hadn't told his roommate about him, but he had other things on his mind. The last party he and Hansol had been to together had ended in them fighting and Seungkwan crying in a bathroom, so he was determined to redeem himself at this one. He touched Hansol's arm to get his attention. “Hansol? Will you dance with me?”

“Actually, I was thinking I'd let some girl grind up on me.” He had a teasing smile on his face, but dropped it when his boyfriend gave him the death glare. “Come on, don't take it so seriously. Of course I'll dance with you.” He grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.

Any discomfort Seungkwan had felt about dancing with his boyfriend in public quickly moved to the back of his mind as they were simply enjoying moving to the music. He wanted to not care. He just wanted dance. And he just wanted to do what so many couples around them were doing. “Sollie?” He asked as he spun around in his arms.

“Hm?”

“Can you kiss me?”

“Right here on the dance floor?”

Seungkwan planted his feet so he could look him in the eye. He nodded shyly.

Hansol smiled and leaned in. He had his hands on Seungkwan's hips and pulled him closer when he felt arms wrap around his neck.

Seungkwan pulled back, his arms leaning on Hansol's shoulders. He stared into his boyfriend's eyes and he was so busy drowning in them that he almost didn't notice the tap on his shoulder.

“It's almost time for us to get on stage.” Jihoon said from behind him. “Help me tame Seokmin and get him backstage, please. I can't deal with him when he's this hyper.”

Seungkwan looked over where Jihoon was looking and saw Seokmin dancing like a crazy person with Soonyoung. They both had a certain type of energy that was hard to match for most people. Seungkwan sighed, but he thought it was nice to see this side of Seokmin. He didn't show it enough, Seungkwan thought. Always holding back a little. He walked over and signaled him. “Sorry to interrupt...whatever you guys are doing, but, Seok, Jihoon says it's time to get ready.”

“Okay!” He said to Seungkwan and turned back to his dance partner. “Are you going to watch us, Soonyoung?”

“Yeah, of course!”

As they made their way backstage Seungkwan was starting to feel a little nervous. Even though there was no pressure of wanting to win anything this time, it had been a long time since they had played in front of people. Battle of the Bands felt like a lifetime ago. Jisoo and Jeonghan hadn't told them about their relationship yet, Mingyu and Wonwoo had kissed for the first time that night, Seokmin had barely even spoken to Jaehyun at that point, and Seungkwan himself had still been oblivious to Hansol's feelings for him. A lot had changed since then. He looked at his band members and suddenly felt emotional.

“Seungkwan?” Jisoo said, seeing the way Seungkwan's eyes were shining with the tears that had started to take shape. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I'm fine, sorry. I just...I love you, guys.”

“We love you too, Kwannie!” Jeonghan replied. “Don't we, Hoonie?”

“Eh, yeah, of course. Not sure why we're talking about this now though.”

“Guys! In a circle! I'm going to pump us like last time!” Seokmin yelled out suddenly and he stuck out his hand.

“Please tell me you meant to say pump _up_?” Jihoon shook his head, but already had his hand on top of Seokmin's.

“Tonight!” Seokmin spoke dramatically when all of their hands were joined together. “Marks the return of _Skeletons in the Closet_. We will wow this crowd of drunken students and give them a show they'll remember even when they're super hungover tomorrow!”

<>

Playing for a group of people who were primarily there to party had a different energy than Battle of the Bands had, but it wasn't a bad energy. In fact, Seungkwan felt more relaxed. Or maybe that was because he managed to find Hansol in the crowd and saw the way he was looking at him. His enthusiasm shot through the roof and the adrenaline was still flowing richly when they finished and exited the stage. The others seemed to feel the same type of rush.

“We should do this more often!” Seokmin yelled out and he high-fived Jisoo.

Jihoon nodded. “I wouldn't be against that. We might want to come up with a better band name though.”

“Aw, but I like _Skeletons in the Closet_.” Jeonghan replied. “It reminds me of the dark days of high school.” He ran a hand slowly through his hair. “By the way, I think the combination of being in a band and this long hair is really working for me. I swear if I was single I'd be getting laid left and right judging from some of the screams I heard.”

Jisoo glared at him, but quickly turned it into a smirk. “Lucky me, being the only one you're getting laid by.”

Still vibing off of their performance they made their way back into the crowd. They soon spotted Hansol, Chan, Seungcheol and Soonyoung waiting for them. Seungkwan attached himself to his boyfriend's arm.

Soonyoung held two thumbs up. “Wow, you were great. I really wish I was dating one of you guys so I could wear a t-shirt that says _'Don't fuck with the band._ _T_ _hat's my job'_ or something.”

Hansol laughed, “What do you think, babe? Should I get a shirt that says ' _Dibs on the lead singer_?”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose, “I think that you should definitely not get a shirt like that.” He looked around in search for the band's oldest groupie, but couldn't find him.“Where's Mingyu? And Wonwoo?” He asked.

Chan shrugged, “Not sure. They weren't with us when you guys started, so I guess they watched from somewhere else.”

“Or maybe they're...you know.” Hansol said, thinking back at the alley make-out session he had witnessed.

Seungkwan frowned. If Mingyu and Wonwoo had missed their performance to have sex in a public place he was going to be _very_ annoyed. “I'm going to go look for him. I'll be right back.”

He started walking around the room in search for Mingyu and Wonwoo. After a few minutes he finally spotted Mingyu standing at the back by himself. He walked over and stood in front of him with his arms crossed. “Why are you all the way back here? Didn't you watch us perform?” He pouted.

Mingyu looked up. He looked pale. “I-I'm sorry. I-” His voice broke and he was clearly trying to keep it together.

Seungkwan let his arms drop down and he placed a hand on his best friend's arm to gently stroke it, “What's wrong?”

“Can we go?”

“Did you and Wonwoo have a fight or something?”

Mingyu bit his lip and was visibly trying to fight back tears. “I think it's over.”

His voice was so small that Seungkwan barely heard him over the loud music and it took him a moment to realize what Mingyu had just said. “What...?” He stood there for a few seconds more, trying to wrap his mind around the situation. “Okay, we'll go. Let me just go and get Hansol and the others.” He turned around, but felt Mingyu tugging on his sleeve.

“Can we just...go to my place? Just us two?”

Seungkwan nodded. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jihoon ignoring everybody flirting with him, I-  
> -Soonyoung flirting with...well...a lot of people?  
> -Maybe it's time for Jeonghan to cut his hair LOL  
> -Only China line hasn't made an appearance yet :o They will of course! ...at some point  
> -We'll get more details on what happened between Mingyu and Wonwoo next chapter >.< Do you think it's really over?  
> -I'll try to finish the next one soon, but work is stressing me out so...we'll see T___T
> 
> (p.s. Soonyoung already knew Seungcheol since they go to same college and Wonwoo knows him and Jeonghan. He has also seen Jisoo over the phone since he and Jeonghan video chat a lot)


	63. HS3-7 Post-breakup TLC

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan stays with Mingyu and tries to make him feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go and listen to Seungkwan's new OST!! :D

When they arrived at Mingyu's house the lights inside were still on. Mingyu groaned. “I don't want to talk to them right now. Let's just go in and go straight to my room. I know you want to be polite and stuff, but-”

“Okay.” Seungkwan assured him. The whole way there neither of them had spoken. When he left Seungkwan hadn't given Hansol or the others much detail since he himself didn't even really know what was going on either. He had looked around to see if he saw Wonwoo somewhere, but he was nowhere to be found.

Mingyu unlocked the door and they went inside. Sounds of the TV were coming from the living room. Seungkwan ignored his natural instincts to go and greet Mingyu's parents, but from the looks of it, it was just his dad who had fallen asleep in front of the TV anyway. They quickly went up. Seungkwan closed the door and Mingyu slumped down on his bed.

“Do you want anything to drink or something?” Seungkwan asked. “I can go down to the kitchen and-”

“No. No, I don't want anything.”

Seungkwan sat down next to him and placed a hand on his knee. “So, what happened?” He wanted to give Mingyu whatever he needed right now, but he needed some more information.

The other boy inhaled a shaky breath and started talking. “It was clear that he hadn't told his roommate about me, right? So when most of you went dancing I confronted him about it. I asked him if he was maybe not out to his roommate for some reason. You know what he said?”

“What?” Seungkwan was rubbing his thumb over the back of Mingyu's hand in slow strokes.

“He said he didn't _remember_ if he had told him or not. Can you believe that? What kind of bullshit is that!? I can totally understand not coming out to someone new right away, but this guy was hitting on me the moment I walked through the door and pretty damn obvious about it too. I doubt he hadn't told Wonwoo he likes guys.”

“You...you don't think he hadn't told Soonyoung for _other reasons_ do you?” Seungkwan had trouble imagining Wonwoo as someone who would cheat, but this alone didn't seem like enough reason to break up.

“I don't think there's anything going on between them, no.” Mingyu inhaled sharply. “But it means that he has _never_ even mentioned _anything_ about me. Like he doesn't even care.”

“Then what happened?”

“After that everything just started pouring out...everything we've ever fought about. How he's always busy and that he can find time for his gaming, but not for me. He said he _needs_ to play games to relax from all his schoolwork and then I said that I didn't realize being in a relationship with me was apparently so much work for him and not relaxing. He told me I was overreacting. And then I- I said something so stupid. I didn't even mean it. I said ' _maybe it would be easier if you didn't have a boyfriend_ ' and he-” Tears fell down. “He said ' _yeah, maybe so'_ ”

Seungkwan wrapped his arms around his now full-on crying best friend and let him hang his heavy body on him. “If he said maybe, doesn't that mean it was just a fight? Not a breakup?” He tried.

Mingyu sat back up and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. He shook his head. “No, because after that we didn't say anything for a while and then he said that he loved me, but that things hadn't been working between us and that he thought it was better for us right now to not be together. To break up.” He crawled back into the comfort of Seungkwan's warm body. “If he loves me why doesn't he want to be with me.” He hiccuped.

Seungkwan gently stroked his hair. “I don't know.” He really didn't. He wasn't sure how to feel. He knew they had been having issues and part of him wasn't entirely surprised, but at the same time he felt anger towards Wonwoo for breaking Mingyu's heart like this. He hated to hear him cry.

When Mingyu's crying died down he gently made him sit up. He wrapped his sleeve around his hand and wiped away any remaining tears. “Wonwoo is an idiot. Of the highest order. How it could cross anybody's mind to break-up with Kim Mingyu is beyond me.” He inhaled and sighed. “Let's get into bed and try to sleep for now.”

They changed into shirts and crawled under the covers. Mingyu immediately pulled Seungkwan close and started crying softly again. Not sure what else to do Seungkwan started to sing a slow song to lull him to sleep.

<>

When he woke up the next morning Seungkwan noticed a lack of arms around him. He looked up and saw Mingyu sitting at his desk chair, staring at his phone. “What are you doing?” He asked with a voice still laced with sleep.

“He hasn't texted...hasn't called...nothing.” Mingyu mumbled.

Seungkwan groaned as he pushed himself up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Maybe he doesn't want to bother you. Give you space. What could he possibly say right now to make you feel better?”

“Maybe he just doesn't care. Maybe he's just glad to finally be rid of me.”

Seungkwan got up and walked over. “Don't say that. Of course he cares. You were together for a long time.”

Mingyu kept staring at the screen of his phone. “Do you think I should call him?”

“I think...” Seungkwan said as he took the phone from him and placed it face down on the desk. “...You should go and take a shower. Brush your teeth. Maybe shave.” He ran a finger down Mingyu's jaw. His hand got squatted away.

“I don't want to take a shower. Why can't I just stay in bed all day?”

“First of all, you're not even in bed now. Second of all, you'll feel better if you're nice and clean. You can get back into pj's right after.”

Mingyu got up, but instead of heading to the bathroom he let himself fall face first onto his bed and groaned into his pillow.

“Okay, fine.” Seungkwan gave in. “I'll go and get dressed first, but when I get back it's your turn!” He left the room and in the hallway ran into Mingyu's mother.

“Oh, hello Seungkwan.” She said, surprised to find him in her house. “I didn't know you were staying over.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Ehm...” He really wasn't sure how much Mingyu wanted his parents to know in this situation, but he thought it was best if he wasn't bothered about other things right now. “Mingyu, he, eh, he broke up with Wonwoo last night.”

Mingyu's mother's face fell and she looked over at her son's closed bedroom door. “Oh dear! Is he okay?”

“Not really...I mean...he's pretty upset. But don't worry. I'm going to take care of him today. Is it okay if I use the shower first?”

“Of course, of course. You're a good friend, Seungkwan.”

<>

When he got back to Mingyu's room he found him like he had left him. On his bed with his face buried in his pillow. Seungkwan poked him on the back of his head. “Okay. The bathroom is free. I'm stepping out for a moment, but I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Where are you going?” Mingyu's muffled voice asked.

“Just to get some things. Now, come on. Up!”

He finally got Mingyu into the bathroom and he headed downstairs. Both of parents were there and gave him the same pained look. Clearly his mother had told his father about the breakup. “I'm going to go buy some things to make him feel better. I'll be back soon.” He told them. They nodded. His mother got up and slipped him some money. “Get that expensive ice cream he likes. And some noodles.”

“I'll put the hot plate in his room while you're out.” His dad said.

On his way to the stores Seungkwan called Hansol to let him know what was going on. While the others had caught on what was happening, the group chat had been quiet. It was different from when Seokmin broke up with Jaehyun. Jaehyun had always been Seokmin's boyfriend as opposed to one of the group, but with Wonwoo it wasn't like that. Even if they only became friends after he had started to go out with Mingyu, he had quickly become part of their circle. Seungkwan didn't really want to think about what this meant for their group of friends. After his call with Hansol he decided to call one more person. “Hannie?” He said when Jeonghan answered his call. “Have you seen Wonwoo?”

“ _Not since last night. Is it true he and Mingyu broke up?_ ”

“Yeah. I guess I'm just calling to- I don't know.”

“ _I'll go check on him_.”

“Yeah, okay. Please make sure he doesn't call or text Mingyu right now. It's the last thing he needs. Unless Wonwoo changed his mind I suppose...” Seungkwan was mad at Wonwoo, but at the same time he wanted to make sure he was all right.

“ _What about Mingyu?_ ”

“I've got it. I don't think he's in the mood to see more people.”

<>

Mingyu was sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed and his eyes red from crying again. His hair was still damp, so he had taken a shower, but he hadn't bothered to put on a shirt yet. Seungkwan squatted down in front of him and put his bags down. He patted him on the head to get his attention.

“I tried calling him...” Mingyu spoke with a hoarse voice. “But I hung up before he could answer. He hasn't called back.” He lifted his head. “What's all this?” He asked looking at the bags.

“Food! Snacks! Face masks! We're going to take an eat and spa day and play games and watch dumb movies or something. Forget all about stupid Wonwoo. I thought he was supposed to be the smart one of the group, but if he can't value you for how awesome you are he's the dumbest person I have ever met!” He grabbed Mingyu's shirt off the bed and held it out. “Lift your arms.”

“I'm not a child.” Mingyu pouted. “I don't need you to dress me.” But he let him anyway.

“Now. Let's put your phone away and have some breakfast.” He emptied the contents of the shopping bag on the floor. “What do you want to eat first?”

“I'm not hungry.”

Seungkwan knew that if Kim Mingyu said he wasn't hungry, he really wasn't feeling well. Instead of trying to convince him to eat, he started to set things up to make something. It didn't take long before Mingyu crawled closer and started helping, mumbling something about how Seungkwan was doing it wrong.

They spent the whole day cooped up in Mingyu's room. Seungkwan knew Mingyu checked his phone whenever one of them went to the bathroom and he noticed how he zoned out during movies, but he also got him to laugh a few times or just cuddle up and be close. He was hurting, but he would be able to get through this, Seungkwan thought.

“You don't have to stay over again, you know.” Mingyu said when the day had turned into evening. Seungkwan had his head on his shoulder and his hand wrapped around Mingyu's arm.

“You don't want me to?” Seungkwan asked.

“It's not that. I just...I'll be okay on my own for a bit.”

Seungkwan sat up and looked at him. “If you want me to go home because you need some alone time, that's totally fine. But don't think I'm here because I feel like I _have_ to be here or something.”

“I know. I just want to wallow in self-pity for a few hours. I can't do that when you're around because you won't let me.”

Seungkwan frowned and pushed out his bottom lip into a pout. “Out of love.”

Mingyu chuckled. “I know, I know. And I really appreciate it, but you should go home and let me wallow. Okay?”

“If you say so...” Seungkwan was hesitant to leave, but he also didn't want to overstay his welcome and be annoying. So he stretched his arms and wrapped them around his best friend for one more tight hug. He planted a kiss on his cheek. “Call or text me if you need anything. Anything at all, okay?”

“Okay.”

Seungkwan stood up and gathered his things. “I'll see you on Monday then. Don't skip school.”

“Yes, mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -idk what boys do after breakups??? They're too young to go out and get wasted  
> -Mingyu is a sad heartbroken puppy atm  
> -If they are really broken up for good, do you think Seungkwan will stay friends with Wonwoo?


	64. HS3-8 Play Rehearsal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's their first full play rehearsal and Hyunggu offers another one of his suggestions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I can't believe it's been a few weeks T__T

Seungkwan did his best not to burst out laughing as ' _Prince'_ Mingyu said his final words to end the play. It was their first full rehearsal with all of their classmates as audience and Mingyu's delivery was over the top dramatic to the point where it was turning the performance into a comedy. That wasn't a bad thing though. Judging from the reaction of most of them, the people watching seemed pretty entertained by the whole thing.

“Well?” Their class president and play director asked. “What did everybody think?”

“Actually...” Hyunggu, who was of course also in the play and standing at the edge of the scene, spoke up. “I've been thinking about this ending and don't you guys think it needs a bit more power?”

“Such as?”

“How about a kiss between the prince and the princess?”

Both Seungkwan and Mingyu's eyes widened at the suggestion. Seungkwan searched for Hansol and saw him staring at Hyunggu with his brows furrowed. Perhaps he was wondering the same thing. What was Hyunggu's angle here?

“Eh...isn't that a bit, ehm, controversial?” One of the other boys said.

“Why? Seungkwan is playing a girl, right? What's so controversial about a boy and a girl kissing? Especially if they're a royal couple endgame.”

“Well...that's true.”

“Maybe we just need to try it out once.” Someone else said and the suggestion was followed by a few snickers.

“Ew, no. Seungkwan doesn't look like a girl right now. I don't want to watch two dudes making out.” Another one said.

While their classmates continued their back-and-forth, Mingyu locked eyes with Seungkwan, not sure what to do. He was clearly uncomfortable and Seungkwan decided to put an end to it. He took a step forward and raised one of his hands. “I can save you all the trouble of trying to decide just how gross you think it would be for me and Mingyu to lock lips. I'm not doing it. I don't want to and I won't.”

“Lol, Mingyu just got totally rejected by Seungkwan.” More subdued laughter.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes at the comment. “I'm not _rejecting_ Mingyu. I'm just not comfortable doing a kiss scene in front of the entire school.”

“Perhaps we should revisit this idea at our dress rehearsal.” The director said.

Seungkwan clicked his tongue and was about to object when the bell rang. As if it had been a fire alarm the students rushed out of the class. It had been their last one for the day and most didn't like the fact they had to stay longer just for the play in the first place.

Seungkwan caught Hyunggu trying to leave the room from the corner of his eye and he was quick to grab him by the arm. “Can I have a word with you?” Without waiting for a reply he pulled him back inside and to the back of the room. Mingyu and Hansol kept half an eye on the situation and their ears open, but didn't intervene.

He made sure it was only the four of them left before he started talking. “I don't know what that was all about and I'm sorry if you feel hurt by what happened between us, but what you just did was mean. Perhaps you thought it would be funny to make me kiss another guy in front of my boyfriend or whatever, but I hope you realize that what you tried to do was making me, a gay kid at a school with known homophobes, kiss another guy in front of the entire class and having to listen to them saying how disgusted they are at the mere thought of it! And worst of all, it wasn't just mean to me and Hansol, you also dragged Mingyu into it!” He ended his short rant by crossing his arms and waiting for some sort of response from the other boy. He was thoroughly pissed off and it only got worse the more time he had to think about what had happened.

“I-I'm sorry. I didn't think of it like that. I was just...I don't know what I was thinking. I guess you're right...I thought it would be funny or something.”

“Well, it wasn't.”

“I know. I'm sorry. If anyone brings it up again when we're doing the next rehearsal I'll speak up against it.” He looked past Seungkwan to address Mingyu behind him. “I'm sorry. Mingyu, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It wasn't okay for me to try and get you two to kiss.”

“I was uncomfortable because I don't want to kiss my best friend in front of his boyfriend and the rest of the class, not because he's another guy. If that's what you mean.”

“No! I mean, I know you and Seungkwan are close and you're not a homophobe or anything!”

“I'm gay.”

Hyunggu stared at Mingyu and blinked a few times before he let out a long _oooh_ sound as if everything made sense now. “Man, I'm sorry. I really wasn't thinking. You don't also have a boyfriend that I might have pissed off, do you?” He chuckled slightly, but the room felt like ice.

“I think we're done here.” Seungkwan said abruptly and swung his bag over his shoulder. He grabbed both Hansol and Mingyu by their wrists and made them leave with him, leaving Hyunggu behind in the classroom. Once out in the hallway Mingyu pulled his hand back.

“Don't you think you were a bit harsh?” He asked.

“Harsh? No. He did something mean and I called him on it. And then he starts talking to you about having a boyfriend and-”

“Seungkwan, just because I got dumped doesn't mean I'll spiral out of control at the word boyfriend. Just think about how he must be feeling. He's had a crush on you for ages and then he finds out you've been dating Hansol for over a year already. He's just hurting and trying to deal with that, don't you think?”

Seungkwan pouted and looked over at Hansol.

“It still wasn't cool.” Hansol mumbled. He had been pissed too, but he did understand Mingyu's point.

“Let's just...cut him some slack.”

“What if the class brings it up again?” Seungkwan asked.

Mingyu sighed. “You know what? I don't even care at this point. They're all hung up on calling you gay, but they jump at the opportunity to make you kiss a guy? If they want to see it so badly maybe we should just-” He stopped and looked at Hansol. “If that's okay with you. Just to make a point.”

“Don't ask _him_ for permission!” Seungkwan huffed. “You don't have _my_ permission! What point would us kissing make?”

“That two men kissing isn't something disgusting.” Hansol spoke up. “That it's just as normal as any other kind of love.”

“Are you two pinheads forgetting that I'm playing a girl? I won't be kissing him as my gay old self.”

“Yeah, but everybody knows that you're not really a girl.” Mingyu pointed out.

“It might be a nice _fuck you_ to all the homophobes. And if anyone acts offended or something you can just say it's only for the play and that in the context of the play it isn't gay.” Hansol said and he and Mingyu nodded in agreement with each other.

Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows together in thought. “Maybe.” He looked at his boyfriend. “You'd really be okay with me kissing Mingyu in front of the whole school?”

“As long as you guys don't insist on practicing by yourselves, I think I can handle it. But only if you're comfortable too.”

Seungkwan sighed, wondering how they had gotten to this point. “I'll think about it. Now let's go home. Mingyu, do you want to come to my house too? We can all do our homework together.”

“Actually, I think I'm going to go check if Hyunggu is okay. I kind of feel bad for him.”

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow. “All right. I guess we'll see you tomorrow then.”

He and Hansol walked over to Hansol's bike and Seungkwan got on the back. “Sollie?” He said as he clung closer to him during the ride. “Before we go home, can we take a walk in the park where we first kissed? And hold hands?”

“Sure.” His response was a single word, but Hansol's chest was filled with a sudden wave of deep affection. He loved these moments. Simply being together. It made him want to not think about next year, about graduating, about college. First, he was going to have to tell Seungkwan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I keep you waiting for almost 3 weeks just to come back with a sort of cliffhanger? Yes.
> 
> What does Hansol need to tell Seungkwan?   
> Will Mingyu and Seungkwan decide to kiss at the end of the play? Should they?


	65. HS3-9 Hansol's college plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol shares his plans for college with his boyfriend.

Seungkwan stretched his arms out in front of him and let out a high-pitched groan. He slumped back and looked down at the piles of books surrounding him and Hansol. “Do you mind if I leave a few of these here until the next time I come over? I'm afraid my bag is going to rip from being too heavy.”

His boyfriend chuckled. “Sure, but don't you need them?”

“I'll just leave the ones I don't need for the upcoming two days or so. By the way, did you have time to check my English essay I gave you last week?”

“Oh yeah. It's around here somewhere...I think.”

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. “Please tell me you didn't lose it. We have to hand it in tomorrow and if I made a lot of mistakes I'll need time to revise it and-”

“Ah!” Hansol exclaimed, holding up a paper in his hands. “Found it. Here.” He handed it over and sat down close to him, wrapping his arms around his waist. “You didn't make a lot of mistakes, baby. You did really good.”

“Thank you for always correcting it for me. I really want to get a good grade. I don't know how much English I will actually need in the future, but colleges all seem to think it's important.” He stuffed the paper neatly in his bag between some books and leaned into Hansol's arms. “Speaking of college, I've been talking with Hannie and he suggested a sort of college experience sleepover.”

“What's that? Another party?”

“No, no party. Just going over there and getting a better feel of the campus and the students that go there, I guess. Honestly, I think he just wants to have a sleepover, but I think it might be actually a good way to get a real feel about the place.”

“Right...”

Seungkwan felt the hold around him loosen and he turned to look at Hansol. “What? You don't think it's a good idea? We could go there and do the same with the other guys too. I know Jeonghan will be disappointed if I end up going to a different college, but Seokmin has told me great things about some of his classes.”

“It's not that I don't think it's a good idea, it's just...aren't you considering other options as well?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...I know those two colleges are the closest and have all of our friends and I'm sure they're good and all, but there's so much more out there, don't you think?”

“I'm already having trouble deciding between these two, do I really want to add more to that? Both of their early childhood education programs are well renowned and I honestly don't feel the need to look elsewhere.” Seungkwan stopped talking and took in Hansol's expression. “Or do you mean for you? I know you don't really know yet what you want to do, but maybe if we spend some time there you'll get a better idea.”

Hansol pulled his arms back and sighed. “Kwannie, there's something I have to talk to you about and I'm a little bit worried how you're going to react, because I know you're probably not going to like it. But I want you to know that I've thought a lot about this and I've done my research.”

“Okay, you're kind of freaking me out here. What are you talking about?”

“Well, I've been thinking about doing something in Computer Science. And I've found a college that I think would be great for me. The program is awesome and I think I can really learn a lot there. Not just for my Major, but also other stuff they offer there.”

“Well, great. Why is that a problem?” Seungkwan thought it was strange Hansol hadn't mentioned this sooner. He hadn't even mentioned being interested in computer science before.

“It's kind of far away.”

“Oh...how far?”

Hansol didn't answer right away and he had trouble looking Seungkwan in the eyes. “It's overseas.”

“Like...another country? You want to go to college in another country?”

“Wait. I'll show you the brochure and stuff.” Hansol got up and Seungkwan sat motionless.

“Here.” Hansol sat back down next to him and handed him a clear file folder containing several brochures and printed out pages of information. “I know it will be hard to be far away from each other, but it's not forever and when I found this one it was the first time I felt any kind of excitement about college. Something about the whole vibe of that place just fits with me and-” He stopped and looked at his boyfriend silently staring at the pages and going through them. “Kwannie? Please say something.”

Seungkwan had to fight hard not to start crying or yelling. Or both. He wanted to. He wanted to ask him how he could do this. But he didn't. He could tell how much Hansol wanted this and how hard he was trying to convince him it was a good thing. The fact that he had gone trough the trouble of neatly organizing the information said enough. He forced a smile on his face that was probably not convincing. “G-great! It looks like a really great school!” He handed the files back to him and stood up. “I, eh, I have to go home now. Help my mother with something.” He started to shove books into his bag, dropping one because his hands were shaking.

“Seungkwan wait. Don't leave like this. I know it's a lot to just drop on you, but I'm not taking this lightly, okay?” Hansol stood up also. He lightly rubbed a hand over Seungkwan's back. “Anyway, I haven't even applied yet. I might not even get in.”

Seungkwan nodded and smiled weakly. “It's great. Really. I'll see you tomorrow.”

He didn't go home. Without thinking he ended up on Mingyu's doorstep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Well...how about that...  
> -Seungkwan is right. Jeonghan just wants to have a sleepover


	66. HS3-10 Supportive Boyfriend TM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan tries to find a way to deal with Hansol's announcement about his college pick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing comes with peaks and valleys and clearly I am currently in a valley when it comes to this fic :( I am sure a peak will come again though >.<

“Please don't tell Hansol about this.” Seungkwan had spent the last thirty minutes or so crying on his best friend's shoulder and explaining about what had happened through his sobs. “I don't want him to know how upset I am about his college plans.”

“Okay, but why? If you're upset you should be able to tell him that. You can be upset.” Mingyu said as he wiped away the last of Seungkwan's tears with a tissue.

“Not about this! I have to support him because this is what he wants.”

“I guess...”

Seungkwan sat up on his knees and grabbed the other boy by the shoulders. “Mingyu, I really need you to agree with me on this. It's already taking a lot to convince myself. I can't do it if you don't agree with me.”

“I mean, of course I agree that it's good to support him, but that doesn't mean you can't be upset about it, right?”

“That's why I'm over here crying about it to you instead of to him. I don't want him to feel guilty and change his mind about applying because of it.”

“He hasn't even applied yet? So there's still time to-”

“No. I can't try to talk him out of it or ask him not to apply. He'll end up regretting it and resenting me for it.” He sighed and leaned his head on Mingyu's shoulder.

“What if he ends up regretting not spending college with you?”

“Then that's on him. Not me. I just don't want to be the reason he doesn't follow his dream or whatever. Even though it was the first I even heard about it...Why can't he just study Computer Science here? Does he think I'm lame for _not_ wanting to venture out into the world like he apparently does? Does he realize how hard it can be to _successfully_ apply for a top university like that one. I mean, I only saw the name and location basically because everything was a blur at that point, but it looked really top notch. He better make sure his application is flawless.”

“Seungkwan? I think you're spiraling a bit. That was a lot of different emotions in less than thirty seconds.”

“Well, I have a lot of different emotions right now.” He stood up with a grunt. “I have to go.”

“You're not staying for dinner?”

“No. I have stuff to do.”

“What stuff? Seungkwan?” Mingyu sighed and dragged himself over to his bed. Relationships were a pain in the ass.

< _School, the next day_ >

The bell rang for class to start and Hansol did his best to hide his phone under his desk so he could message Seungkwan. It was rare for him to arrive late to class. _Just_ on time had happened more than once, but never after the bell. He didn't get a reply. It wasn't even read. He hadn't talked to him since yesterday and he was starting to get worried that he was being ignored or avoided. He was barely able to focus throughout the class and as soon as it was over he turned around in his seat. “Mingyu, do you know where Seungkwan is?”

Mingyu shook his head. “Maybe he's sick?” He highly doubted that. In all honesty he was a bit worried about him. He had left very abruptly yesterday even though he was clearly still upset.

Hansol rapidly tapped his fingers on his desk a few times before he made the decision to pack his bag and get out of here. He left the teacher with a very quick ' _my stomach hurts, I think I'm going to throw up'_ excuse and before anyone could stop him walked out.

< _Seungkwan's house_ >

He rang the doorbell a few times before he heard movement coming from inside. The door finally opened and he was met with Seungkwan's serious face.

“You need to get your grades up.” He stated and turned back around, leaving the door open for Hansol to enter.

“Excuse me?”

“Your grades are _fine_ , but fine isn't going to cut it, Hansol.”

“Cut it for what?” He asked as he took off his shoes. He had come over here worried that his boyfriend was either sick or too upset with him to come to school, but neither of those things seemed to be the case.

Seungkwan let out a sigh. “Your college application of course. I've been doing some research and-” He suddenly stopped in his tracks and swung back around. “Why aren't you in school!?”

“I came to check on you! I texted you like a hundred times! I thought you were sick or mad at me or something.”

“Oh, yeah, I haven't checked my phone in a while. I was busy.”

“With researching _my_ college application?”

They had arrived in Seungkwan's room and he sat down behind his computer. “Yeah. I know you think you've done your research, but just because you managed to put some papers into a nice folder does not mean you know the ins and outs of the application process.”

Hansol leaned against the back of Seungkwan's chair and reached his arms around to place them on his boyfriend's shoulders. “Okay? I appreciate you wanting to help me, but is it really necessary to do it right away and during school hours? I only told you about it yesterday. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to get rid of me.”

Seungkwan froze. He stood back up and looked at Hansol. “That's not funny.”

“Sorry. I just don't get why-”

“Why I'm skipping school for this? Because I needed to do something, Hansol. I'm trying to be a good boyfriend and show you that I support you, but don't joke about me getting rid of you when it's you who plans to leave.”

Hansol looked at his boyfriend and saw the exact expression he hadn't wanted to see. The type of face that made him not want to tell him. “I'm not leaving you, Seungkwan. This is just something that I need to try.” He took a step closer and gently held his arms. “I love you so much. You know that, right?”

Seungkwan looked back with a pout pulling his bottom lip down. “I guess.”

“Thank you for being so supportive. You're amazing.” He closed the distance and placed a tender kiss on Seungkwan's lips. “And like I said yesterday: I'm not in yet. Let's cross bridges when we get to them.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “You're obviously going to get in. They'd be stupid to decline you. Especially with my help.”

Hansol smiled. “So? Can I see the fruits of your labor?”

Seungkwan untangled himself from Hansol's arms. “You can get your ass back to school is what you can do.” Before he could sit down Hansol slid into his chair.

“Or...” Hansol pulled a reluctant Seungkwan on his lap, “I stay here and help you.”

“Distract me is more likely. But, fine. I guess one day of missed school won't be a total deal breaker.” He couldn't help but smile when the grip around his waist tightened and he felt Hansol's body heat against his back. He could do this. As long as it was something that he knew made Hansol happy, Seungkwan felt like he could do just about anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will either be a dress rehearsal for the play (aka Seungkwan in a dress) OR the college sleepover at Jeonghan's where Seungkwan might bump into Wonwoo
> 
> Thank you so much to those of you still reading this!


	67. HS3-11 College Sleepover I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan, Hansol, and Chan head over to Jeonghan's college for a sleepover. They run into Soonyoung too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing really big happens in this chapter, but it has some important bits and pieces I think

Seungkwan arrived at Jeonghan's university together with Hansol and Chan. He had been unsuccessful in trying to convince Mingyu to come. They weren't even inside the dorm building yet when Seungkwan had to admit that it was probably better that he hadn't. In the distance he saw Wonwoo exiting the building with his roommate, Soonyoung. He stopped in his tracks and gave the other two boys a moment to realize why.

“Should we go say hi?” Chan asked, not so sure himself.

Seungkwan hadn't spoken to Wonwoo at all since he had broken up with Mingyu. Although he still couldn't understand what went through his head when he decided to break his best friend's heart, a part of him did want to know how he was doing. But while the three of them stood there contemplating on what to do, the decision was made for them. As soon as he saw them Wonwoo froze. Soonyoung turned to look at them and waved awkwardly. They seemed to exchange a few words and Wonwoo walked away at a brisk pace. His roommate, however, made his way over.

“Hey Chan!” He directed a smile at their youngest. He looked at a confused Seungkwan and Hansol. “And...you guys.” He chuckled awkwardly. “I'm sorry. The last time we met I was sort of drunk. I'm usually not _that_ hyper. I'm Soonyoung, by the way.”

Seungkwan pursed his lips and nodded. “I remember. _I_ wasn't drunk. Seungkwan.” He said to remind the young man of his name.

“Hansol.” Hansol added.

“Wonwoo had to, eh...get to the library.”

A believable excuse, but Seungkwan knew it was more likely that he had wanted to avoid an awkward situation.

“So, are you guys here to visit Jeonghan and Seungcheol or something?”

“Yeah.” Chan answered. “We're doing a campus experience sleepover.”

“Oh wow, that sounds like fun! Be sure to try the ice cream in the cafeteria. It's the best thing there.”

“Sure thing.” Chan answered. “You should stop by later if you have the time.”

“Yeah, okay, I might. For now I have to get to the, eh, library. See you guys around.” He waved and walked away with Seungkwan's narrowed eyes on his back.

“How come he remembered _your_ name?” Seungkwan asked Chan.

He shrugged in response. “We text sometimes. We've only met up once. Together with Seokmin.”

“What? You're friends with him?”

“I guess. What's the big deal? We both have an interest in dance and we talked at the party and exchanged numbers. He seemed to get along with Seokmin really well too and we just decided to meet up spontaneously one day.”

“Come on.” Hansol stopped the conversation before Seungkwan and Chan would start bickering like they did sometimes. “Jeonghan is waiting.”

<>

After a walk around the dorms and campus (including the cafeteria for ice cream) they all sat cramped together in Seungcheol and Jeonghan's room. Jeonghan was busy trying to get Chan to change his phone background into a picture of them together when there was a knock on the door.

“Mind if I come in?” Soonyoung asked. He held up a plastic bag. “I brought some snacks.”

“People with snacks are welcome.” Seungcheol said as he took the bag from him and gestured him to sit anywhere.

“Soonyoung, you remember Chan, Hansol and Seungkwan?” Jeonghan asked him. He slid down next to Seungkwan sitting on the floor.

“Actually, we already ran into him earlier.” Seungkwan answered in his stead. “Apparently he and Chan are secret friends.”

Chan rolled his eyes. “We're not _secret_ friends. We're new friends. That's all. Besides, you guys are so busy with clubs, college stuff and that play of yours...”

“You can always call _me_ if you're lonely, Channie.” Jeonghan said with a wink and he laughed. “Speaking of the play. Are you guys looking forward to it? I am definitely looking forward to watching it.”

“What do you mean?” Seungkwan said with a side glance.

“You didn't think I wouldn't take time out of my busy schedule to see you up on that stage, did you? You're going to be so pretty, Kwannie. Are you doing your own make-up?”

“No. Mingyu said he'd do it. He's been watching tutorials on YouTube.” Seungkwan had first thought about asking one of his sisters for help, but having Mingyu do it felt safer. He finally felt like his dad was really coming to terms with having a gay son and he didn't want his sisters blabbing to his dad about him playing a princess.

“Mingyu is Wonwoo's ex, right?” Soonyoung asked softly.

“Yeah. The one you hit on at the party where they broke up.”

“I told you I was drunk! I hit on lots of people. It's not my fault that Wonwoo never told me he had a boyfriend. I didn't even know he was gay! And it's not my fault that they broke up either.” He pouted.

“I didn't say it was. I just- I still don't get why he- Is there someone else?” Seungkwan had wanted to avoid the topic of Wonwoo tonight, but he had too many questions that remained unanswered.

“I don't think so. He doesn't talk about his feelings and stuff so much, but he was pretty shaken up after the break-up. He even dyed his hair. I tried to ask him why they broke up anyway, but he only said that it wasn't working anymore.” Soonyoung stood back up. “Anyway, why I really came over here was to invite you guys over to my bar. Or well, the bar I work at. We just got a new karaoke machine! All the cool kids hang out there.”

“What do you say guys?” Seungcheol asked looking around the room. “You did say you wanted the full college experience.”

<>

“What about him?” Jeonghan said as he nodded his head in the direction of a young muscular man, maybe a year or two older than himself.

“Han, for the last time, I didn't come here tonight to hook up with someone.” Seungcheol sighed. “If you want me to spend the night somewhere else so you guys have more room just say so.”

“What I want is for you to get a nice boyfriend. You're always moping around because you have too much unspent boyfriend energy.”

“So, eh...” Hansol started. “Is this a gay bar?”

“No.” Seungcheol answered. “Not officially anyway. But I do suppose most of the people who come here are gay.” He cast a quick glance in Chan's direction. “I hope you weren't hoping to pick up some college girl.” He joked.

Jeonghan scoffed. “He is a child, Seungcheol.”

Chan raised an eyebrow, “I'm not a child. I had a girlfriend, you know.”

“Guys!” Soonyoung yelled from the bar and he pointed to the karaoke machine at the back of the room. “Are you going to sing, or what?”

They filled the evening with drinks they weren't supposed to have and music. Seungkwan was enjoying himself and singing one of his favorite ballads when his eyes locked with Hansol's across the room. That was when it hit him that this might be as close as he was going to get to spending college together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -idk why but maybe the guy Jeonghan pointed out was Shownu??  
> -Get Seungcheol a boyfriend  
> -I realized I made Soonyoung, Seokmin and Chan hang out together in my 'Don't Call' fic too, lol
> 
> Next time Seungkwan hangs out w Mingyu and receives some unexpected information about his private life...


	68. HS3-12 Lip gloss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan is over at Mingyu's house to see what Youtube has taught him about applying make-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much faster update this time! :D

“Can you stop talking for a moment so I can put this lip gloss on you!” Mingyu said as he took hold of Seungkwan's chin and lifted his face.

“I don't see why you have to practice putting lip gloss on. How hard can it be? Also, I'm not sure if it isn't a bit much...” Seungkwan had agreed to come over to Mingyu's and let him put his new found make-up skills to the test, but he didn't like having to sit still while Mingyu was completely focused on his face.

“Just shut up and let me make your lips all sexy.”

“I don't need sexy lips.” Seungkwan scoffed, but he stopped talking after that and let Mingyu continue to do whatever. He looked at his face scrunching up with concentration.

“There.” Mingyu said with a content smile as he let go of Seungkwan's face.

“It feels weird.” Seungkwan complained. “It's all sticky.”

“But look how pretty you are.” Mingyu said and he held up a mirror.

Seungkwan looked back at his reflection and didn't say anything.

“What? You don't think it looks good?” Mingyu pouted.

“It does. I'm just...a bit worried.”

“About what? Reactions?”

He nodded. He didn't want to worry about it. It shouldn't matter. He was just playing a part.

“Do you not want to do the kiss thing?”

Seungkwan sighed. “I don't know. It's not just that basically the whole school will be watching, it's also weird because Hansol will be there and Hyunggu...”

“Hansol already said he's cool with it and what does it matter if Hyunggu is there?”

“You know how things are weird between us.”

“Things wouldn't be weird if you just stopped insisting that things are weird. He's actually really nice.”

Seungkwan looked over the mirror to narrow his eyes at Mingyu. “I didn't say he's not nice, I said things are weird between us.”

“And I'm saying they don't have to be. I'm pretty sure he's over you already anyway.”

“That would be good, I guess. But how come you're suddenly such an expert when it comes to Hyunggu?”

“I've just- He and I...I'm not an _expert_.”

Seungkwan sat up on his knees and took the mirror from Mingyu's hands to get it out of the way. “No, no, please continue. You and him what?”

“Okay don't get mad, but remember after that whole kiss thing in front of the class happened? And I went back to check on him?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, we talked after that and went for some coffee and he asked if I wanted to play video games at his house.”

“So, what? You two are friends now?”

“More like FWBs.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?”

“Friends with...benefits.”

“Benefits? What kind of- Oh. My. God. Kim Mingyu are you sleeping with Hyunggu!? What the actual fuck!”

Mingyu, now bright red, tried to hide his face with a pillow but Seungkwan pulled it away and smacked him with it repeatedly. “Why. Didn't. You. Tell. Me. Anything!”

“B-because the whole thing is sort of weird.”

“So I quit the basketball club to put some distance between me and Hyunggu and then my best friend starts sleeping with him? Are we supposed to go on double dates now?”

“What? No. Like I said, we're friends with benefits. We're not dating. And I thought you said you were too busy to continue with basketball!”

Seungkwan sat back down with a sigh. “Well, that too.” Seungkwan cleared his throat and threw a cautious stare Mingyu's way. “So, eh...friends with benefits. What's that like?”

He shrugged. “It's nice, I guess. I'm not ready for a new relationship, but I was a bit lonely and he's fun to hang out with.”

Seungkwan pouted. “I'm fun to hang out with.”

“Did I say that you aren't? It's just that you're so busy lately with student council and what not...Besides, the benefits part I can't really get from you, now can I?”

It was quiet for a moment. “I saw Wonwoo, by the way.” Perhaps this wasn't the best time to bring it up, but Seungkwan had wanted tell him and the air in the room was somewhat awkward already anyway.

“Oh...” Mingyu started chewing his lip. “Did you talk to him?”

Seungkwan shook his head. “No. We just saw him and his roommate in the distance. We did sort of hang out with him, Soonyoung the roommate, later. Did you know he and Chan are friends?”

Mingyu shook his head.

“Apparently Wonwoo was a mess after you broke up. Soonyoung said he dyed his hair.”

“What color?”

“I don't know. Does it matter?”

Mingyu shrugged. It felt like it mattered. He hoped it was a dumb color.

“Anyway, even if he hadn't ran off the moment he saw us, I still wouldn't have talked to him.”

A part of Mingyu was saying that he should be the bigger person and tell Seungkwan it was okay to talk to Wonwoo. He knew those two had been friends too and, knowing Seungkwan, he was only not talking to him for Mingyu's sake. But he didn't tell him. He wasn't ready to be the bigger person. He didn't want Wonwoo to still have Seungkwan after breaking his heart. “Let's take a selfie. Our friends are the only reactions you'll need. Jeonghan is going to freak out about how pretty I made his son look.”

“Don't refer to me as Jeonghan's son. And I'm still not sure about the lip gloss, Gyu. I have to admit I think my lips do look pretty good, but I don't like the way it feels.”

“What matters is how it looks. It's only for a little bit and nobody besides you cares what it feels like.”

“ _You_ might care if we go through with the ending kiss.”

Mingyu shrugged. “It can't be that bad. Let me try.” Without warning he leaned in and placed a quick peck on Seungkwan's lips. “See? No big deal.”

“Mingyu! You can't just kiss me!”

Mingyu just laughed. “Relax. That wasn't a kiss.”

“I'm telling Hansol!”

“That just proves that it wasn't a kiss. If I really kissed you, your first reaction wouldn't be to tell Hansol.”

“Whatever. Don't do it again! Let's just take a selfie.”

“Yes! And I'll send a request to Hansol for more intensive testing of kissing lips with gloss on them.” He laughed despite the pillow landing on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu: Things are not weird!  
> Also Mingyu: Things are weird
> 
> -Well, well, who saw that one coming?  
> -Seungkwan has the prettiest lips T__T  
> -oh yeah, he quit the basketball club lol. Hansol is still in it though...hmm it probably won't be a problem
> 
> Next time is the dress rehearsal. Place your bets now: will Hansol like seeing his boyfriend in a dress or not so much?


	69. HS3-13 Dress Rehearsal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their class has their dress rehearsal for the play and Seungkwan finds that his princess outfit does not evoke all the responses that he had anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ How is everybody? Please enjoy this chapter ^-^

As the last lines were spoken and the director yelled his okay a gentle wave of relief washed over Seungkwan. He had gotten through the whole thing fully dressed in a long blonde wig, make-up and, of course, his princess outfit. He had been able to convince those in charge of costumes that just because he was a princess did not mean he had to spend the whole play in a gown that dragged all over the floor. Instead he was wearing a dress of a slightly less unpractical length. His biggest relief came from the fact that, with the exception of some initial teasing,his expectations about the amount of shit he'd have to deal with today were not met. Perhaps it helped that all the other actors had at least some make-up on their face too.

The other boys hurried backstage to get back into their regular clothes, but Seungkwan stayed behind for a moment to search out Hansol's face to gauge his reaction to his performance. His boyfriend was in charge of lighting and he gave him a thumbs up when he noticed Seungkwan was staring at him. That was all he had needed and he walked off stage.

He already had his wig off when he got to the mirrors and he sighed at his reflection. “Gyu, hand me a make-up wipe.” He said and he held out his hand. When it remained empty he turned away from the mirror to see what the hold-up was. Mingyu was standing with an empty pack in his hands.

“The others...they got to it and they took too many...there aren't any left.”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?”

“A lady shouldn't swear.” One of his classmates sing-songed as he walked by, rubbing his face with a wipe before throwing it into the trash.

Seungkwan ripped the pack from Mingyu's hands. “I see _your_ face is looking nice and clean!”

“I'm sorry! I just put the pack down thinking that everybody would take _one_...”

“They did this on purpose. I just know they did.” In frustration he slammed the empty pack into the nearest trash bin. “I can't go home like this. What am I supposed to do?”

“Don't worry! I'll run down to the nearest store and buy some more!” Mingyu offered. “Hansol will wait with you. Right, Hansol?” He diverted the attention to the boy who was just walking over.

“Sure. Or...” He got closer to Seungkwan, so close that it was clear the others had all left. “I can just give you a ride on my bike. Wear your cap. It'll be fine. We'll go to my house, which is closer, and I'm sure my mom or sister have something.”

“Hansol, look at my face! There is no way nobody is going to notice!”

Hansol shrugged. “Just people that you'll never see again in your life. We'll pass them in a second.”

“But-”

Hansol leaned in further and whispered in his ear. “I, eh, really want to make out with you and stuff looking like this.”

Seungkwan leaned back and looked at his boyfriend with an incredulous expression on his face. “Excuse me?”

Hansol side-eyed Mingyu and pulled Seungkwan away a little bit so he wouldn't hear. “You look seriously hot right now and I haven't been able to focus from the moment you stepped out onto that stage. It was bad when you send those pictures of you in make-up, but seeing it with my own eyes was just torture.”

“What is this? Some weird kink I didn't know about? You want me to keep the dress on too? Should I put the wig back on?”

“I know you're making fun of me, but all I'm suggesting is that you get back into your regular clothes, leave the make-up, and we go to my house before my parents get home from work so we can...you know. Do it.”

“You really didn't have to add the 'do it'. It was pretty clear what you had in mind.”

“So? What do you say?”

Seungkwan looked at Hansol's sparkling eyes and sighed, “Fine. Let's go have sex. Wait for me in the hall while I get changed.”

Hansol failed to suppress a 'yes' slipping out under his breath and he walked out with a huge grin on his face.

“So, eh...should I go buy some more wipes?” Mingyu asked, confused about what was going on.

“Nope.” Seungkwan turned his back to him and pointed at the zipper. “Help me out of this thing.”

“What's going on? Why did Hansol look so pleased with himself?”

“Mingyu, my friend, I think I'm about to have the best sex of my life. So far.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Seungkwan: "omg ew why are you turned on I can't believe you want to have sex right now" Also Seungkwan: "Let's go"  
> (just fyi I won't be writing the actual doing it part)
> 
> I wanted this chapter to just be a nice little chapter and have Hansol lose his mind over how hot his boyfriend is as a princess??
> 
> Next time I think it's time for the actual play. It might cause a snowball effect of sorts


	70. HS3-14 The Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally perform their play and their classmates want to know just what's up with that ending!

The class before them was finishing up their rendition of some sort of play about a haunted mansion and Seungkwan and his classmates were backstage getting into their costumes.

“Stop fussing with my wig!” Seungkwan said and he slapped Mingyu's hand away. “It looks fi-” He looked in the mirror but relented and turned back to his friend. “Proceed. This wig is a mess.”

“I'm just making sure my princess looks her best.”

Seungkwan lightly kicked him in the shin. “Are the others here yet?”

“I don't know. Haven't checked my phone. But they said they'd be here, right?”

Seungkwan nodded. “Jeonghan said to meet them up on the roof after.”

“Gather around everyone!” The class president yelled out and gestured all the actors closer and out of the way of the students coming of the stage. “They're going to change the backdrop and get the lighting right and then we're up. I don't want to see any nerves out there!"

The play itself went fine. They got laughs where they wanted them and nobody forgot any lines. Seungkwan could actually say he was having fun with it. But it was when they were nearing the end of the play that he felt some nerves creeping up again. Mingyu was delivering his final lines and all that was left was for Seungkwan to respond. They had agreed that the moment Seungkwan had said his line they would kiss. “ _Yes._ ”

Because of his nerves and natural clumsy inclinations Mingyu added too much force to his movement and Seungkwan had to hold onto him as their mouths collided, making the kiss seem a lot more passionate than it was. The lights went out around them and they quickly disconnected. The rest of the cast joined them and the lights went back on. They bowed politely as they received a modest applause from the audience. Seungkwan could hear a few voices cheering a little louder and he was sure that if he wasn't blinded by the stage lights he would see Jeonghan, Jisoo and Seokmin. Jihoon and Chan were there too, but Chan was mostly likely sitting with his own class and Jihoon wasn't one to raise his voice like that.

As they walked backstage Seungkwan couldn't quite read the mood. He avoided eye contact with the other boys and walked over to where his stuff was.

“Well...” their director broke the silence. “That went well, right guys? The ending wasn't exactly how we rehearsed it, but I guess it worked with the story so-”

“Not exactly how we rehearsed it? You can say that again.” One of the more outspoken and louder people in their class, said. “Mingyu basically had his tongue in Seungkwan's mouth. What the fuck was that?”

Seungkwan turned back around, wig in hand, but it was Mingyu who seemed to be the center of attention. Their classmate took a step closer. “Tell me something, Mingyu. Have you been ' _rehearsing_ ' together a lot?” Suddenly the mood had shifted.

“Shut up, it was just a stage kiss. It's called acting.” Seungkwan tried in an attempt to defuse the situation.

“No, I'm serious. We never decided to end the play like this, so either you two decided to do it beforehand and rehearsed it by yourselves or it was a spur of the moment thing because Mingyu just couldn't resist Seungkwan's luscious lips. I know we're all frustrated about the lack of girls in this place, but man, kissing another dude is desperate. Unless you're into that.”

“You're the one focused on his _'luscious lips'_ ” Mingyu said, standing up with all his height.

The boy scoffed. “Whatever. Maybe Taesung was right about you last year.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, what? You don't know what he said about the two of you? He said that you're dating or whatever. And if that's true, you didn't just kiss on stage for the sake of the play, you did it to shove your lifestyle in everybody's faces!”

Mingyu got dangerously close and towered over the boy. “You better back off or I'll do something to your face.” He hissed.

“Mingyu, come on.” Seungkwan pulled at his best friend's arm, fearing a repeat of his fight last year. “It's not worth it.”

“Now hold on! I want to know! If you're not dating you can just say so!”

“Why do you keep-” Seungkwan started, but was interrupted by a loud bang. Everybody turned to Hansol who had just loudly dropped a box of tools onto a table.

Hansol was getting really tired of this. Perhaps they could have expected at least a few people reacting this way, but what good was making a point if you didn't follow through? “Seungkwan is not dating Mingyu.” He stated and looked over to him. A conversation without words was spoken between them and Hansol walked over to stand next to his boyfriend. “He's dating me.”

A moment where the only voices were those of the last class performing their play on the stage followed.

“You're shitting me. Right?” Another classmate stepped forward.

“I am not 'shitting you' and we've been dating for a long time and none of you ever noticed, so I don't see why it should matter.”

Another silence. This time Seungkwan decided to break it. “Okay. There you have it. Happy now? Yes, I am gay like you all already assumed anyway, so no surprises there. I am not dating Mingyu, I'm dating Hansol. End of story. Now can someone help me out of this dress?”

{The Rooftop}

“Finally!” Jeonghan exclaimed when they walked out onto the roof. “Where have you guys been? I want to show you the video I took of your stage debut!”

“Sorry. I was sort of busy coming out to the entire class. And so was Hansol.” Seungkwan said and he flopped himself down next to Chan. “And what do you mean video?”

“I taped the whole thing, but go back to the coming out to the entire class part. What happened?”

Seungkwan sighed, “So, that kiss at the end wasn't exactly in the script. The class had joked about it before, but some of them said two boys kissing wouldn't be something they'd want to see. So we decided to do it anyway, because fuck that.”

“You say that as if it was your idea.” Mingyu pouted.

“Mingyu, I'm telling a story here, please be quiet.” Seungkwan said and then continued. “Anyway, afterward this one guy from our class started going off about it and wanted to know if me and Mingyu were dating. It was at that moment that Hansol made his entrance and declared his love for me.”

“Was it another orange juice moment?” Jeonghan giggled.

“No.” Hansol answered, slightly offended, “It just felt like a moment to make a choice. Hide in the shadows until graduation or step out into the light.”

“Poetic.” Jihoon said with a chuckle, but his eyes had a sense of pride in them.

Mingyu let out a groan, “I should have said I was gay, too. But it seemed weird after you two just came out and nobody was saying anything after that...”

“It's fine. You can always tell them later if you want to. I'm sure sooner or later that asshole will remember that he wanted to know all the ins and outs of our kiss. I swear he's obsessed with us.”

“Either way. That was brave of you guys. The kiss _and_ you two telling them about your relationship.” Jisoo spoke. “It was more than any of us ever dared to do at this school.”

“Seokmin had sex in the locker-room. That was pretty daring.” Seungkwan said without thinking and stared at his friend with wide eyes, shocked by his own slip of the tongue. He and Hansol had agreed that it was for the best to never let Seokmin know they heard him and Jaehyun that one time.

“How do you know about that!?” Seokmin exclaimed loudly.

“Wow, wait, it's true!?” Jihoon asked.

“We, eh, were making out in there behind some lockers and then we heard you come in. Of course, we didn't stay, but it was pretty obvious what you were about to do...” Seungkwan explained.

“Are me and Jisoo the only decent ones around here?” Jeonghan asked. “Chan, please tell me you've never done anything sexual in the locker-rooms.”

“It's easier for him. There aren't any girls to do anything with.” Seungkwan joked.

“Isn't anybody going to ask _me_ if I did anything sexual in the locker-room?” Mingyu asked.

“Hannie.” Jisoo said with a kind of silky smoothness in his voice, “Movie theater.”

“What about the movie theater?”

“You can't talk about us being the only decent ones around here is all I'm saying.”

Jeonghan fell silent and a blush crept up his face. “Right...” He said softly.

Jihoon slapped him on the arm, laughing. “What did you do in the movie theater?”

“When are you coming to sleepover at _my_ university?” Jisoo suddenly asked in a loud voice, looking at the high schoolers. “My roommate moved off campus so we don't have to be so cramped up.”

“We'll be with more people this time though, since Mingyu is coming.” Seungkwan said.

“I am?”

“Yes. There is no excuse this time. Unless you pulled a Jihoon and have a secret ex at college.”

“Fine. I'll go.”

“Great! We'll figure out a date. Soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -only the ones who are alumni of the school came, with the exception of Wonwoo for obvious reasons (so no Seungcheol or Soonyoung, since, even though they know the others, they're not super close or anything yet)  
> -speaking of Wonwoo, maybe Jeonghan thought he'd want to see the play and recorded it for him  
> -their classmates didn't really say anything after, but this isn't the end of their coming out (just fyi, most people in their class are pretty neutral about the whole thing, but the ones that 'object' are the loudest)  
> -Also note that Hansol still doesn't label himself as gay per se. He only stated that he's dating Seungkwan.


	71. HS3-15 Winter Break I - Chan has something to say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They head over to the university where Jisoo, Soekmin and Jihoon attend at the beginning of Winter Break. At the ice rink Chan has an announcement to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ Hope everybody is doing well. Everybody still good on toilet paper? Wearing masks?

The play had been on just a few days before Winter break and Hansol and Seungkwan were grateful for it. Although no-one had said anything directly to them, they both felt the stares and heard the whispers. It was clear the information had spread throughout the student body. Perhaps a two week break would give everyone a chance to either forget or not care about the fact that they were dating.

In the meantime, Jisoo hadn't been kidding when he wanted them to come over to his university soon. He had pointed out that they should hand in their applications as soon as possible, causing Seungkwan to stress out and insisting they'd go that weekend so he could make a decision during the holiday.

Jisoo gave them the full tour and Seungkwan could already hear Jeonghan complaining about his betrayal, because Seungkwan was really liking the vibe on campus. There wasn't anything specific that stood out significantly against the other university and it was mostly a gut feeling, but Seungkwan could see himself wandering these halls next year. He had already compared the two places on paper, so his gut was pretty important in the final decision making. Perhaps the fact that Mingyu had already pretty much made up his mind about applying to this place also played some part. The idea of having to miss both his boyfriend _and_ his best friend next year wasn't something he liked to think about.

After walking around campus for a while Jisoo took them back to the dorms. They were joined in his room by Seokmin and Jihoon and, despite of the fact that Jisoo had the room all to himself, squeezed together pretty tight. Seungkwan didn't mind. He had Hansol on his one side and Seokmin on the other.

“If you go here we can sing together more often. Jihoon just got a new guitar.” He said.

“I'd like that. Not sure your neighbors would. You're so loud, Seok.” Seungkwan chuckled.

“I took care of that.” Jihoon said in such a mysterious way that it had Seungkwan wonder if that meant he had soundproofed their room or if he had threatened the people in the next room by using that new guitar of his as a weapon.

“Can I sing too?” Mingyu asked softly. “I'm not as good as you guys, but I don't feel like just being your groupie again.”

“Of course!” Seokmin beamed, already delighted by the image of all of them spending more time together again.

“Relax a little. They haven't even applied yet. Jeonghan is going to kill you, by the way. Luring them with the prospect of fun.”

Seungkwan snorted. “As if he didn't try to lure us, taking us to a bar with karaoke and hot men.” He glanced sideways at his boyfriend and saw his expected scowl at the mention of alluring men. “Not that I need those. The men weren't part of the deal. I mean, he didn't take us there for the men.” He now looked over at Jisoo, Jeonghan's long-term boyfriend.

He just laughed. “Why are you getting so flustered? You mean the bar Soonyoung works at, right? I've been there. I know there are hot men there. Jeonghan being one of them. He can look. I look too.”

“W-what!?” Seungkwan blurted. “What does that mean?”

Jisoo shrugged. “Just that we're not blind. Everybody looks. As long as that's all it is, there's nothing wrong with it.”

Suddenly Seokmin let out a loud sigh. “Guys, I'm so sick of being single.Soonyoung said he could set me up with some guy he knows, but I don't know. Do I really want to meet some random guy?”

“All guys are random until you meet them, Seokmin.” Jisoo said. “You say you're sick of being single, but you also don't want to meet anyone. How is that supposed to work?”

“I want to meet someone! I just don't like the idea of being set up with someone...They'll be filled with expectations I'll never be able to live up to.”

“Seok, I've said this before and I'll say it again. Most guys out there that are looking to fuck someone would be more than happy to-”

“Oh my god, Jihoon!” Seokmin jerked up. “I don't just want someone to sleep with. Just because you've turned sleeping with all the tall guys on campus into a sport, doesn't mean that everybody is just looking for sex.” He turned away from Jihoon and half whispered to the others. “He's befriended some of them, you know? Now when he tells me he's going over to someone's room I don't know if they're just hanging out or if they're making love.”

Chan raised one eyebrow at the statement. “Making love?”

“What? Making love sounds better than fucking. It's sweet.”

Seungkwan snorted. “What's sweet about Jihoon fucking a bunch of tall men?”

“Can we stop talking about my sex life? There's a reason I don't tell you lot about it. I don't want to.”

“Yeah.” Mingyu voiced. “Respect his privacy, guys. How about we eat!”

“Take-out is already on the way!” Jisoo said. “I took the liberty of ordering. They don't bring it up to the room, but I'll get a text once they're outside. So if one of you could help me carry it up, that would be great.”

Immediately Chan stood up. “I'll help. Let's go.”

“Oh, but I didn't get a text yet.” Jisoo said, checking his phone again just to be sure.

“Let's just wait downstairs.” Chan replied and there was something in his eyes that made Jisoo nod and the two of them left the room.

+++

It took quite a while before they got back with the food and the others had taken the time to pick out a movie to watch while they ate. Jisoo walked over to his desk and put the food down. “I have an idea. Why don't we ask the rest of the guys to go ice skating with us tomorrow? Like last year?”

“Sounds good.” Chan replied. “Let's invite Soonyoung too.”

Mingyu scoffed, but didn't say anything else.

“Oh yeah, eh, sure. Right, Seungkwan?” Hansol said and looked at his boyfriend.

“Yeah, sure. Last year was fun. Remember? I made that joke about Chan and Jihoon being the singles of the group and we found out Jihoon wasn't actually single.”

“You guys are all way too invested in my dating life.” Jihoon said with his mouth already full of food. “But before you even ask, no, I am not dating anyone right now.”

“Jeonghan will be pleased to hear it.” Seungkwan mumbled, remembering how he had wanted to set him up with Seungcheol last year. He quickly shifted his focus to the food when Jihoon gave him a questioning look.

{The next day, ice rink}

“Mingyu, why is Hyunggu standing over there and waving like he has been waiting for us?” Seungkwan asked when they arrived sometime in the afternoon and he saw a familiar figure near the entrance.

“I asked him to come.” Mingyu replied softly and shoved his hands in his coat pockets.

“I thought you said you two aren't dating.”

“We're not. Does that mean we can't hang out? If Seok and Chan can invite Wonwoo's roommate...”

Seungkwan took him by the arm and held him back so the others wouldn't hear. “Are you worried Wonwoo might decide to suddenly come along too? Is that what this is about?”

Mingyu shrugged his arm free. “Maybe. But also I just thought it would be nice to invite him.”

Seungkwan didn't push the issue further and greeted the boy as if nothing about this situation was totally awkward. He was glad that it didn't take long for the others to arrive. Seungcheol introduced himself to Hyunggu, seeing as he was the only person who he hadn't met before. Soonyoung, however, made the mistake of introducing himself to one more person.

“Hi, I'm Soonyoung.” He said and he smiled at Mingyu.

Mingyu stared at the man and stood up a little taller. “Seriously? I'm _Mingyu_. Wonwoo's-” He let his shoulders slump down again. “Just Mingyu. We've met before.”

Soonyoung's eyes widened. “Oh, shit. Right. I'm sorry. At the party where- Ah yes, I was kind of drunk that night and I- Sorry.”

Needless to say, Mingyu was not happy that his ex's roommate was joining them. He spent most of the time actively avoiding the man and he was glad he had invited Hyunggu to come. Seungkwan, on the other hand, thought he noticed something interesting. He skated up to Chan and directed his eyes to where Seokmin was playing around with Soonyoung on the ice. “Chan, what's the deal with Seokmin and that guy?”

“What? Soonyoung? As far as I know they're just friends. Why?”

“I don't know. They seem so cheerful together.”

“Well, Seokmin is able to string a coherent sentence together when they talk, so at least we know he doesn't like him as anything more.”

“Right.” Seungkwan replied slowly. He looked over at his younger friend. “Are you okay? Did you sleep well?”

“Why are you suddenly so concerned for my well being?” Chan chuckled.

“I don't know. You seem off. Since yesterday actually.”

Chan sucked in his lower lip and didn't say anything.

“Chan? If something's wrong you can talk to me. You know that, right?”

“Let's go sit. Can you ask the others to come too?” He said without looking at Seungkwan and skated to the edge. On his way over Seungkwan locked eyes with the others and gestured for them to follow. Jisoo, Jeonghan and Seungcheol were already sitting at a large table drinking hot chocolate rather than skating.

“I told you, you should have invited Hyunwoo.” Jeonghan was just saying to Seungcheol.

“Who's Hyunwoo?” Seungkwan asked, his interest piqued and momentarily forgetting he followed Chan here.

“Do you remember that nice looking man I pointed out to Cheol when we went to the bar?”

“No.” He said as he sat down.

“Well, in any case, we saw him again on another night and Soonyoung sort of knows him, so he helped me set them up.”

“Han, I've only spoken twice to him after that. It would be weird to invite him to go ice skating with a bunch of people he doesn't know when we barely know each other.”

“He knows me!” Soonyoung, who was sitting down with the rest of the group, piped up.

“See!” Jeonghan said as if that was supposed to be enough to convince Seungcheol.

Soonyoung put his arm around Jeonghan's shoulder and shook his head. “Sometimes you just got to let nature run its coarse, Jeonghan. Some things can't be forced despite our good intentions. Trust me. I've been trying to get my roommate laid too, but-” He stopped and threw an awkward glance in Mingyu's direction. “I mean, not _my_ roommate. Just some guy who is someone's roommate. I've been unsuccessful anyway. Not that I was trying!”

“Soonyoung, just stop talking.” Seungcheol sighed.

“It's fine.” Mingyu said. “But can we maybe talk about something else now?”

Seungkwan looked at Chan who looked nervous. More of them noticed and the table turned quiet.

“C-can I say something?” He started. “I mean. I'm going to say something. I have something to say.” He looked up and searched for Jisoo's reassuring eyes before he spoke again. “I think...No..I _am_ bi.”

A moment of silence. “As in...bisexual?” Seokmin asked softly.

Chan nodded.

“But...you said you weren't into guys.” Jihoon said.

“I didn't think I was...by the time I kind of thought that maybe I was it was hard to tell you guys.”

“Have you met us?” Seungkwan asked.

“I know, but it was just...everybody thought I was straight and I was like the token straight friend or something.”

“Oh, Chan.” Seungkwan said, his tone of voice a lot softer this time. “I'm so sorry for always joking about there not being any girls around for you or-”

“It's not your fault. I did tell you guys I was straight when we first met, so...It was all very confusing for me too. But I knew for sure a few weeks back. I was watching dance performances and I just thought it was the dance, you know? I really appreciate good dance. But then there was this one dancer and man...I couldn't stop watching him and one video he uploaded where he wasn't even dancing I realized that it wasn't the dance. I was turned on, not by the dance, but by the dancer. I'm also still definitely into girls though. It still took me a bit to really come to terms with it, but I've been talking with Jisoo because I know he's bisexual too. That really helped.” He threw a small smile in Jisoo's direction and then looked around the table. “I've been thinking about how to tell you guys and yesterday Jisoo suggested I'd just rip the band-aid off. So...here we are.”

“Well.” Jeonghan said as he stood up to walk over to Chan and wrap him in a hug. “I for one couldn't be prouder.”

The rest of the table concurred and Chan let out a deep breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding. He suddenly stood up. “I'm going to skate another round or two. Who's with me?”

Soonyoung was the first to jump up. “Let's do it! But first. I have to ask. Chan. Was it me? Was it my video? It's okay, you can tell me.”

Chan scoffed with an undeniable smile on his face. “Shut up! No, it was most definitely not you. It was some guy from Thailand.”

“You coming?” Hansol asked Seungkwan.

“You can go if you want, but I'm all skated out. I'll just stay here with Jeonghan and Jihoon. They don't seem like they want to move.”

“You are correct.” Jeonghan replied and he waved his hand as the others went back to the ice.

“So...” Jihoon said. “Seungcheol is seeing someone?”

“One of our friends just came out and _that's_ what you're thinking about?” Seungkwan replied before Jeonghan could say anything.

“Wait, Seungkwan, hold up. Jihoon, does this mean you're interested in Seungcheol?”

“What? No. I'm just making conversation.”

Seungkwan tuned out the conversation and checked his phone. “Oh shit.”

“What?” Jeonghan asked.

“My dad says he's in town next weekend and he's coming over for dinner? What does that even mean?”

“Usually it involves food.”

“No, I mean, what does he mean come over? Like, to our house? Where my mother also lives? This is horrible. What are they thinking? Are they purposely trying to ruin my Winter break? The only reason they get along better now is because they never talk to each other. My sisters are coming over at the end of the week too and it was supposed to be a _fun_ time. Not a time for us three to relive the days of daily fights between our parents.”

“Maybe it won't be so bad.” Jeonghan offered, but he couldn't even imagine. His parents never did more than have the occasional disagreement, not even classified as fighting.

Seungkwan groaned and face planted onto the table. Why was his life like this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Since Soonyoung works at the bar he's gotten closer to Seungcheol and Jeonghan and he's also friends with Chan and Seokmin  
> -The fact that Seokmin can normally talk with Soonyoung. A sign that they're just friends or a sign they're soulmates? Time will tell  
> -Here's a little info: MOST characters I already know what their endgame is going to be, BUT for Chan I haven't decided yet. So I'm just throwing some options in the air (like a certain Thai dancer...)
> 
> So, next time Seungkwan's sisters show up and so does his dad.


	72. HS3-16 Winter Break II - Boo Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol meets Seungkwan's sisters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My private life is a bit busy atm and I haven't had much time to write T___T 
> 
> Life be crazy

“Hansol, it's so nice to _finally_ meet you.” Seungkwan's eldest sister Jinseol said, throwing a sidewards glance in her brother's direction. Hansol had seen pictures of them before, but he was still amazed at the close family resemblance. Not just in their looks, their mannerism were clear Boo traits, too.

“I hope our cute little brother isn't too hard to handle.” Sojeong, Seungkwan's other sister, added.

“Shut up.” Seungkwan hissed through his teeth.

“What? She just said you're cute. Isn't he cute, Hansol?”

“Very.” Hansol laughed along with Seungkwan's sisters.

Seungkwan sighed, “Fine. You're right. I'm very cute. Can we order now?” He took the lunch menu from the side of the table and started making his choice. He didn't know why he felt so nervous. He loved his sisters and he loved his boyfriend and he didn't see a reason why they wouldn't get along. He glanced around the table as the conversation between them started flowing. The main topic was still Seungkwan, but he didn't actually mind as long as they said nice things about him.

“You have to see this photo I have on my phone of Seungkwan when he was eleven and-”

“He most definitely does _not_ have to see that photo! I look horrible! With my puffy face and ridiculous haircut!” Seungkwan attempted to grab his sister's phone, but failed to do it before Hansol saw the picture of him posing next to a statue on a school trip.

“Please send it to me later.” Hansol said with a grin.

“Hansol!” Seungkwan objected in pout.

“I'll send you a picture of me at that age too. For compensation.”

Seungkwan huffed. “Not fair. You looked amazing at any age.”

“Don't be so hard on eleven-year-old Seungkwan. He was adorable.”

They both stopped at the sound of a picture being taken.

“Sorry.” Sojeong giggled. “I just wanted a picture of the two of you together in your natural state.”

“What does that even mean?” Seungkwan asked without getting an answer.

“Speaking of pictures. When are we ever going to see what you looked like in your school play?” Jinseol demanded. “You can't just tell us that you're playing a princess and then _not_ show it to us.”

“You didn't show them?” Hansol asked. “But you looked so hot.” His eyes widened after realizing that maybe it was weird to call him hot in front of his sisters. The noise that escaped him sounded as if he was trying to suck in his breath and breathe out at the same time.

“Aha.” Jinseol said triumphantly, “I'm sure you have loads of pictures then. I'll trade you for those pictures of him when he was younger.”

“Me too, me too. I have loads of little Seungkwan pictures somewhere!”

Seungkwan almost started to argue that he wasn't a commodity, but, knowing that he couldn't possibly win an argument against both his sisters, instead picked up his own phone and held it up high. “Smile!” He said to the table and snapped a few shots of all four of them together. His nerves were gone and he could fully enjoy this moment. He didn't get to see his sisters often, so he had missed them and he was glad they seemed to like Hansol and vice versa.

“So, I know you won't be joining us and mom for our spa day tomorrow. What time will you come for dinner?”

“Hansol isn't joining us for dinner tomorrow.” Seungkwan said.

“Why not?”

“Because I don't want to subject him to our family dinner that will most definitely be a disaster. If mom and dad don't end up fighting you and dad will, Jinseol.”

“Seungkwan, I know me and him often fought when you were younger, but we don't anymore. Dinner will be fine. I won't even bring up my new boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend?” Seungkwan asked with a frown on his face. “Why didn't I know about this?”

“Because I haven't told you, obviously. We've only been dating for five weeks.”

“He's really handsome.” Sojeong joined in.

“ _You've_ met him?”

“Anyway.” His eldest sister interrupted. “I don't see why Hansol can't come.”

“He's not coming.” Seungkwan repeated. “I won't risk it. Dad was barely okay when I brought him over last summer and I'd like it if he doesn't associate my boyfriend with a horrible family affair.”

“You're being so dramatic, Seungkwan. But fine, I'll guess we'll see Hansol again some other time.”

{Hansol's house, the next evening}

“I am exhausted.” Seungkwan said as he let himself fall down on Hansol's bed. He had come over after dinner. His father was only in town for the one day and his sisters had to head back too. He had helped his mom clean up, but after that he felt the need to see his boyfriend.

“Did your parents fight?” Hansol sat down next to him and pulled him back up by his arm.

“No. Not at all. But I kept waiting for it. Waiting for one of them to find something to get annoyed at or blame the other for. Maybe they really do get along better now. Or maybe we all just got really good at keeping the conversations light. I don't know. Jinseol even asked Dad to drop her and Sojeong off at the station and she never asks him for favors. And he didn't complain about being asked either.”

“Maybe next time I can come too? And your sister can invite her boyfriend.”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose at that. “I don't want my sister to have a boyfriend. And before you judge me, just imagine your own sister with a boyfriend.”

“I'd rather not.” Hansol conceded and let Seungkwan place his head on his shoulder. He took his hand and they sat in comfortable silence until Hansol could no longer. “My letter came in the mail yesterday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -In case it wasn't clear: it's Hansol's letter from college about whether he got in or not  
> -Seungkwan: has a boyfriend. Also Seungkwan: my sister with a boyfriend, gross 
> 
> I hope Seungkwan, his sisters and his mom really do have spa days all together sometimes.


	73. HS3-17 The Results are in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hansol finally gets the definite result for his college application and he opens it together with Seungkwan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay it's a short one, but an update twice in one week so w00p!

Hansol reached out from where they were sitting on the bed and grabbed an envelope from his desk. Seungkwan saw the name of the university Hansol had applied to in the top corner. “I haven't opened it yet.” Hansol held it out to Seungkwan, but the other didn't take it from him.

“Why not?” He asked with his eyes unfocused.

“I don't know.” Hansol shrugged and sat back down. I guess I'm nervous.”

“Open it.” Seungkwan's chest felt like it was being pulled inward. He had helped Hansol with his application as much as he could and a part of him genuinely hoped he'd gotten in, but there was also still a part of him that hoped he hadn't.

Hansol took a deep breath and started peeling it open. He stared at the letter inside without a word. Seungkwan leaned in and scanned the text on the page. His English wasn't the best, but he certainly understood enough. When Hansol looked up at him and mumbled that he had gotten in, Seungkwan nodded with a small movement of his head and an equally small smile on his lips. He wrapped his arms around Hansol's neck and pulled him in. “I'm so proud of you.” He whispered. He sat back and patted him on the head.“Now go tell your parents.”

“They can wait.” Hansol let the letter slide down onto the floor and wrapped his arms around Seungkwan's shoulder, pulling him close. The moment felt overwhelmingly joyous and filled with dread and he needed to just hold him for a while.

Seungkwan let his head lean down on his boyfriend's chest. He couldn't help the tears that pushed to the forefront. “I don't want you to go.” He said in the smallest of voices. He wrapped his arms around Hansol's waist and squeezed him even closer. He looked up, his cheeks wet, “I'm not asking you not to go. Really, I'm not. I just-”

“I know.” Hansol said with a sad smile as he wiped away Seungkwan's tears with his thumb. “I wish I could clone you and take one of you with me and keep you in my room.”

Seungkwan sniffed. “As a sex slave?”

The contrast between what he said and the soft vulnerable way with which he said it made Hansol chuckle. “No, not as a sex slave.” He gently lifted Seungkwan's head and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Unless you want to be.”

Seungkwan scoffed. “Go tell your parents you got in, you idiot.” Is what he said, but his fingers were still entangled in the back of the other boy's shirt and he had no real intention of letting go yet. They fell back onto the mattress, Seungkwan with his head in the crook of Hansol's arm.

“Do you think it's a mistake?” Hansol asked after the room had been silent for a while.

“Don't ask me that. I don't know.”

“I love you.” Hansol whispered after another moment of silence.

“I love you, too.” Seungkwan whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Okay, nobody really expected him NOT to get in, right?
> 
> Will it turn out to be a mistake? Time will tell.
> 
> I feel like I might move things along for this last year of high school and skip over a few months since not all that much happens for the remainder of this school year (like...I could make something up, but perhaps it's time to really work towards college within a few chapers (College...where the REAL DRAMA (?) can start.) Also because I feel like I'll have less trouble writing once I'm there. Please do let me know your thoughts!


	74. HS3-18 The Final Stretch of High School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of high school is here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo~ Basically I jammed their last high school days into this one chapter, lol

Of course the two weeks of Winter break were not enough to make everyone forget about the fact that they were dating, but Seungkwan just couldn't get himself to care about the not very subtle stares and whispers. He had other things to worry about. The end of his high school career was rushing towards him and he simultaneously wanted this chapter of his life to be over and to not have it ever end. But besides the fact that the days where he could have his boyfriend close to him were rapidly coming to a close, he was occupied with applying to college (he got in, of course), help organizing graduation day as part of the student council, and finishing the yearbook (he forgot why he had decided to volunteer for that).

His busy schedule did, of course, not stop him from attending the final match of the basketball club together with Mingyu. It still felt weird being a spectator instead of a participant and part of him regretted making the rash decision to quit. He and Hyunggu were getting along fine now, but he would punch himself in the face before asking to get back on the team. He knew it was better for Hansol anyway, now that they were out. His boyfriend didn't say much about it, but Seungkwan could tell by his mood that the way some of the team members treated him had changed. Seungkwan didn't feel sad about the fact that after this game his boyfriend wouldn't have to deal with that anymore.

Hyunggu scored and cheers erupted from the stands. It was strange watching Mingyu cheer for someone that wasn't him. Seungkwan knew it was a stupid thing to feel, but before, when he was still playing, Mingyu was always there to cheer _him_ on. And Hansol, to a certain extend. Even now, he was probably mostly here to support Hansol and to make sure Seungkwan didn't have to sit by himself, but Seungkwan felt something akin to jealousy crawl over his skin whenever Hyunggu had the ball and he knew Mingyu must be looking at him. He refocused his attention on Hansol instead. One huge advantage of being in the audience was the fact he could watch him run around in shorts.

<>

English club ended with a self-organized high-tea (Mingyu's idea, actually). While most people brought store-bought things, Mingyu showed up with a tray of mini quiches and a variety of neatly cut tiny sandwiches. “I didn't have time to make scones, but I think you're really going to like these. Open up.” He said and held out a quiche so Seungkwan could take a bite.

“Hey, Hansol.” one of the members said, “Mingyu is feeding your boyfriend.”

“And?” Hansol replied, unimpressed. By now he had mostly gotten over the jealousy he sometimes felt over their close relationship. Even if he did feel something, he wasn't going to show that to this kid.

“I'm just saying, if another man was feeding my girlfriend I wouldn't be too happy.”

“Well, I'm not you.”

At this point Mingyu stepped forward, another quiche in hand, and held it out to Hansol who happily took a bite.

“Oh, I get it.” one of their youngest members said, “Mingyu is just a feeder. Give me some too!” He leaped forward and waited for a slightly confused Mingyu to offer him a quiche. Hansol sat down next to his boyfriend and watched everybody favor Mingyu's home-made food over whatever else was on the table. They locked their hands dangling between their chairs.

After some stressful final weeks they finished all assignments and exams. On their last official school day their homeroom teacher gave a generic talk about how the future was theirs for the taking and how he wished them all the best of luck. All that remained now was the actual graduation ceremony next week.

{Graduation Day}

Seungkwan held up his diploma and smiled brightly as Mingyu took a picture of him with his mother and sisters. It was the first in a string of pictures that would be taken on his graduation day. One with him and Hansol, one with him and Mingyu, one with Jeonghan and Jisoo posing on his sides as if they really were his dads, and many more. His actual father was unfortunately unable to come. Seungkwan hadn't really expected him to anyway. He knew he didn't get time off from work easily. It was enough that he had sent him a congratulatory message that morning ending with a rainbow emoji. Coming from a man who _never_ used emoji it meant a lot that he had chosen to add that one.

In all the chaos of parents and friends greeting each other Mingyu saw his opportunity to pull Seungkwan away.

“What are you doing?”

“Come with me.” He pulled him inside the school building and lead them to the old music room.

“What's going on?” Seungkwan asked once they were inside.

“I just wanted to talk to you alone for a second.”

Seungkwan raised his eyebrows. “Okay...what's up?”

“I just- I know we're going to the same college, but we won't be in the same classes and hopefully I'll get a boyfriend at some point and you'll be on your computer talking with Hansol all the time and- I didn't want to say this in front of everybody because it's embarrassing as fuck, but you're my best friend and I never would be who I am today without you. To commemorate our high school years together I got us these.” He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out two key chains. “Look, they're two dogs dressed as unicorns. You get the bigger brown dog because it kind of looks like me and I get the fluffy white dog because it kind of looks like you.”

“Oh...” Seungkwan said as he took the key chain Mingyu was holding out for him and turned it around in his hand. “Did you have these _engraved_? It says _Boo_ _G_ _yu_ on the back.”

“No, I just happened to find key chains that had our names combined like that on them.”

“No need for sarcasm. I wasn't expecting a gift. I didn't get you anything.” He got on his tiptoes so he could wrap his arms around Mingyu's neck for a hug. “Thank you. I love it.” He felt Mingyu's arms wrap around him and pull him closer. “Me too, you know. I wouldn't be the same without you.” They broke their hug and both boys pretended they weren't on the verge of tears.

Mingyu cleared his throat. “Let's go back out. I promised Hansol I'd take a pic of you two together in front of the school.”

<>

“Everything all right?” Hansol asked when Seungkwan appeared by his side.

He nodded. “Mingyu almost made me cry.”

Hansol shook his head and chuckled. “Ready to go and leave this place behind?”

“Yeah. Mingyu said you wanted a picture of us together in front of the school?”

They tried to find an angle with few others in the background and Seungkwan smiled facing the camera, but Hansol took his hand and turned him so they were looking at each other instead. “Ready, Mingyu?” He asked.

“Ready! Make your move.”

“Make your move? What does he mean make-” He let out a surprised little scream when Hansol suddenly pulled him in. He was left breathless when their eyes connected and he felt the intensity of Hansol's fully focused gaze.

“I'm going to kiss you.”

And so he did.

“Got it!” Mingyu yelled at them.

Hansol pulled away with his signature dumb smirk on his happy face. “Let's get out of here.”

“You just- I-” Seungkwan stammered caught between wanting to smack him and floating on cloud nine. It was a fitting goodbye to his life as a high school student.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Mingyu is still not dating Hyunggu just fyi (Hyunggu will be going to a totally different college btw)  
> -Hansol acting as if he didn't have a mental breakdown when Mingyu fed Seungkwan before  
> -BooGyu BFFs  
> -Jihoon, Chan and Seokmin were also at graduation  
> -I actually haven't thought about if Hansol and Seungkwan's families have met before this, but I suppose they've met now at least, lol
> 
> Just to clarify:
> 
> There will be two more chapters before college starts, one with their annual sleepover and one with Verkwan's second anniversary and airport send off (I'm not crying, you are!)...I've already got them written so will probably drop them pretty fast.


	75. HS3-19 Sleepover 3.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their third annual sleepover. This time at Hansol's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just dumping these last high school chapters on consecutive days~

For the first time their sleepover wasn't going to be in Seungkwan's apartment. Hansol's parents had given up their living room for the boys to have a sleepover that doubled as a kind of going away party for Hansol. Although there were still a few weeks before he actually had to leave, this would be the last time they'd be able to all get together like this.

Unlike last year, Jeonghan and Jisoo arrived together, along with Seokmin and Jihoon. They decided to take a group picture right at the beginning at Seungkwan's suggestion. He was afraid they'd forget otherwise. He wanted everything about this sleepover to be perfect.

“I just realized I've never seen the picture from the year I wasn't here yet.” Chan said. “Can I see it?”

“Of course. I have it on my phone, hold on.” Jeonghan said and he pulled the photo up in no time. “It will forever be a shame that no-one had their phones out that year the moment Seungkwan asked Hansol if he wanted some juice and Hansol replied that he was in love with him. Iconic.”

“Oh my god, we were babies!” Seokmin yelled out when he looked at the photo they had taken two years ago. “Mingyu, look!” He said and shoved the phone in Mingyu's face.

“Yeah...great. Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.” He said and walked off.

“Idiot!” Seungkwan hissed in Seokmin's direction. “Wonwoo is in that picture!” He stood up, “I'll go check on him.”

Seokmin quietly handed the phone back to Jeonghan feeling stupid that he hadn't thought off that.

Jihoon patted him on the back. “Don't feel bad, Seok. I'm sure he's fine. Seungkwan is just being overprotective.”

They were all startled by yelling and loud voices coming from the direction of the bathroom and all stared in confusion at Seungkwan who walked back into the living room with a beet red face.

“Everything all right?” Jisoo asked.

“Let's just say that he actually needed to use the bathroom and he forgot to lock the door.”

Moments later Mingyu came back out. “Seungkwan, what the hell was that!?”

“I was just going to check up on you. I thought you might be upset!” He defended himself.

“Why!?”

“Because of the picture!”

“Because it's a reminder of my fleeting youth?”

“No, because...” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “...Wonwoo is in that picture.”

“Seungkwan, if I got upset every time I see a picture with Wonwoo in it I could barely look at any of the pictures we took over the last few years. I mean...I guess I still feel sad if I see pictures of just the two of us, but I deleted most of those. I'm okay seeing him in group pictures.” He looked at Seungkwan's pouty face, “Really. I'm fine. You don't have to worry so much.”

Seungkwan nodded. “Sorry I walked in on you earlier.” He mumbled.

“Wasn't it you last year who told me to always knock? After I walked in on you and Hansol doing it?”

Seungkwan's face once again exploded with red, “S-shut up! I was worried about you!” He huffed. “I'm going to make popcorn.” He declared and stormed off to the kitchen.

“I'll go help him.” Mingyu sighed and followed at a slow pace. “Kwannie.” He sing-songed entering the kitchen, but he stopped when he saw Seungkwan. He had his back to him, but he could tell he was crying. He walked closer and put a hand on his shoulder. “What's wrong?”

“It's that stupid group picture.” Seungkwan sniffed. He fumbled with a bag of popcorn and shoved it into the microwave.

“I know you and Wonwoo were friends, but if I'm not going to cry over him not being here I don't understand why you're-”

“It's not about Wonwoo!”

“Oh. Then, what?”

“Hansol is moving away. Who knows when I'm going to see him again? Next year there might not even be a group picture. Everything is changing and I hate it.”

Mingyu wrapped his arms around him, “Shhh it's okay. I know it's going to be hard, but you guys will be fine.”

“How can you say that!” Seungkwan said in between sobs as he clung to Mingyu's back. “You and Wonwoo broke up and you weren't even that far apart.”

Mingyu gently stroked the younger boy's hair. “Our problem wasn't distance, Seungkwan. We just...weren't meant to be. We never had the same connection that I see you and Hansol have. You two will be fine.” He continued to hold him and let him cry until he spotted Hansol standing in the doorway. He gestured him to get over there so he could take over. He gently pried Seungkwan loose so the crying mess could wrap his arms around Hansol instead. He took the popcorn out of the microwave as quietly as he could and left them alone.

Hansol wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he had a strong hunch it was about him leaving. He knew Seungkwan was a lot more upset than he tried to let on.

“I'm sorry.” Seungkwan mumbled against his chest. “I didn't want to cry today. This sleepover was supposed to be all fun and good times, but-”

“Don't apologize, Kwannie. Even good times come with tears sometimes.”

Seungkwan loosened his grip around him and looked up. “You sometimes sound like an old man, do you know that?”

“A wise old man?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes playfully and smiled into the kiss Hansol gave him.

<>

“Hansol.” Jihoon whispered as the movie credits started to roll. “Come out to the garden with me.”

They walked out and were followed by Chan and Jeonghan.

“What's going on?” Hansol asked.

“A few weeks ago Chan contacted Jihoon and me, saying that he thought it might be nice if us rooftop people did something together for your going away present.” Jeonghan explained.

“You got me a present?”

“Here.” Chan held out a paper bag.

Hansol looked inside and took the contents out. “An XL bag of gummy worms?”

“Don't worry. They're really just gummy worms. We don't want to get you in trouble and be arrested for smuggling drugs.” Jihoon said. “We just thought it would remind you of us when you're all alone in another country.”

“Thanks, guys. I'll keep them as my comfort food and- Chan are you crying?”

“I love you guys.” the youngest said right before the tears that had been welling up in his eyes overflowed down onto his cheeks. It wasn't just that one of his best friends was leaving soon. Next year all of his closest friends would be away at college.

“We love you too, Channie.” Jeonghan said and wrapped an arm around him. He held out his other and gestured to the other two. Hansol and Jihoon looked at each other, shrugged, and joined the hug.

“Guys, what are you doing out here? I thought we were going to play a Mafia game?” Seungkwan said as he stepped out into the garden and stumbled upon the four of them pressed together like penguins. “And why did you make Chan cry?”

<>

“I am going full out once I'm in college!” Mingyu declared. It was getting quite late already and a few drinks had been shared between them. “I need to put myself out there so I can get a proper boyfriend ASAP!”

“Good luck with that...” Seokmin said sadly. “College isn't the dating paradise some people make it out to be. I've been trying, but I keep being single. None of those dates Soonyoung set me up on worked out...”

“Maybe Soonyoung isn't the right person to find you a boyfriend.” Jihoon scoffed. “No offense, but he's kind of...how do I say this nicely...an idiot.”

“That was saying it nicely?” Seokmin asked. “And he's not an idiot. I just keep screwing up my dates.”

“All right, that's it!” Mingyu stood up and pointed the snack he had in his hand in Seokmin's direction. “Next year we will both get boyfriends!” He pointed at Seungkwan next. “Seungkwan! You'll be our official wingman!”

“Is that a job I want?”

“If you hadn't been idiots and had come to my university I could have been your wingman.” Jeonghan said with a strain of bitterness in his voice.

“I'm not sure they would be better off, honey.” Jisoo chimed in. “Haven't you been trying to get Seungcheol a boyfriend?”

“Hey, it's not my fault he's so unwilling! Besides, he dated Hyunwoo for a few months and I pointed him out to him!”

“I'll come to your college next year, Jeonghan.” Chan said as he leaned his head down on his shoulder. His cheeks were red and his eyes sleepy.

“I'll hold you to that.” Jeonghan said, joining his head on top of Chan's.

Hansol smiled looking at the scene. He had Seungkwan on his lap and was going to enjoy it a bit longer despite his legs slowly starting to go numb. He needed to believe they'd be able to hang out like this again in the future or he wouldn't be able to get on that plane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -It's not that Chan hates everybody in his own year, he just doesn't really have any close friends there  
> -Jeonghan actually has a bit of contact with Wonwoo, but he never mentions it   
> -idk if anybody remembers but they were eating gummy worms in the first rooftop scene I wrote (Jeonghan called Jihoon a sexy worm) Also, although Jeonghan and Chan were never part of the rooptoppers at the same time they still consider themselves a group
> 
> Next chapter (I will most likely post it tomorrow) will be Verkwan's second anniversary (presents will be exchanged and Seungkwan takes Hansol to a special location...) and the airport goodbye >.< After that we will get started with college life (don't think just because he's in another country Hansol won't be part of the story anymore!)


	76. HS3-20 Second Anniversary & Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan has a special surprise for Hansol on their two year anniversary. As the beginning of the new school year approaches it is time to say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've uploaded 3 chapters (incl this one) over the last 3 days, so be sure not to miss any!

“We're not going to my house.” Seungkwan said when Hansol pointed out that the bus they were on was going the wrong way.

“We're not?”

“Nope.” It was their second anniversary and they had filled the day with a nice lunch, a stop at an arcade hall, a movie, and dinner. Seungkwan was about to reveal his plan for the night. He checked his phone once off the bus to make sure they were going in the right direction and stopped before a building that looked almost suspiciously inconspicuous.

“What is this place?”

“A hotel. Come on.”

Once inside, Seungkwan looked around for a second until he found the machine they could use to check in.

“How come there isn't a reception? Or windows...” The more he took in of the environment, the clearer it became to Hansol in what kind of place they were. “Babe, is this a sex hotel?”

“I believe the term you're looking for is _love_ hotel, but I suppose so, yes. More importantly it's anonymous and we don't have to deal with some judgy receptionist. Come on, we're on the third floor.”

He opened the door to a room that seemed to be designed with the theme 'sparkling love' or something. There were hearts everywhere and there was an excessive use of glitter.

“I know it's a bit tacky, but this room comes with a jacuzzi and apparently the bed vibrates. I'm not sure if that's actually nice or not, but-”

“I can't believe you brought me to a sex hotel.” Hansol chuckled.

“ _Love_ hotel, Hansol. Besides, these places are even popular now for other things, like slumber parties!”

“But we're not here for a slumber party, are we?” Hansol said as he dumped his bag on the couch and took Seungkwan's bag from him. He got closer with a grin on his face.

“No, we're not.” Seungkwan wrapped his arms around Hansol's neck. “I just wanted for once to be able to be totally alone with you, without fear of someone overhearing or coming home early. Just us, time and a soundproof room.”

“And a jacuzzi?”

<>

Seungkwan stretched out on the bed in his bathrobe, hair still damp. He looked at his hands. “We stayed in there for too long, my fingers are all wrinkly.” He turned on his side and looked at his boyfriend who was going through his bag. “What are you doing over there? Come join me on the bed.”

Hansol pulled something from his bag and walked over to the bed. He got on with a small hop and unceremoniously dropped a square package in front of Seungkwan. “I made you something.”

Seungkwan dragged himself up to sit up against the headboard and picked up the gift. He looked at his boyfriend's slightly nervous face before opening it.

“I hope you like it.”

Inside Seungkwan found what looked to be a photo-album. He opened it to the first page and it had their names written on it. He turned to the next page and looked at one of the selfies they had taken that day with the whole 'condoms on the bed' incident.

“That's the first picture of us together.” Hansol mumbled.

Silently Seungkwan kept turning the pages filled with photographs of their time together. The picture of the food on their first date with them holding hands was also there. And the bench where they had talked after Hansol's accidental confession and where they shared their first kiss. And... “Why is there a picture of my bed?”

“Well...because it's the place where we...you know...lost our virginities together. And we watched movies and cuddled up together and...I just have a lot of good memories attached to that bed.”

Seungkwan let out a small laugh. “I can never show this album to anyone. I'll have to explain.”

“Then don't show it to anyone.” Hansol reached out to turn Seungkwan's head and place a soft kiss on his lips. “It's just ours. Although Mingyu did help me. That camera he got from his parents for his birthday is really pretty good and he has an eye for it, so I asked him if he would help me with some of the pictures.”

“He didn't take that picture of my bed, did he?”

“No. That was all me.”

Seungkwan continued to turn the remaining pages, mostly selfies and pictures taken when they were hanging out with friends. The picture of their graduation day also there. Seungkwan smiled knowing that Hansol had wanted to take that picture for this album. “This must have been so much work. Hansol, I- I don't know what to say.” He looked at him and caressed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“You haven't seen the last few pages yet.”

“They're empty.” Seungkwan said confused. “But there are corners for photos...Your sister's Polaroid camera! That's why you had it with you today!”

Hansol smiled broadly. “Exactly.” He got off the bed and went to grab the photos they had taken today and the camera. He crawled close and held it up. “We have room for a few more pictures.” After taking two cute selfies Hansol once again got off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to take a picture of the jacuzzi! We definitely need to commemorate what we did in there.”

“Hansol.” Seungkwan whined.

“What? You think the bed is going to be even better?”

He sighed. “Go take a picture of the jacuzzi.” Seungkwan took the opportunity to get his own present from his bag. He placed it on the pillow so Hansol would see it.

“What's this?” He asked, walking back in with a fresh Polaroid in his hand.

“You didn't think you'd be the only one who came bearing gifts, did you?”

Hansol smiled and gestured for Seungkwan to hand him the photo-album. “I'll put this in first.”

Seungkwan waited nervously for Hansol to open his gift. “I feel like I can never figure out your fashion taste, so you don't have to wear it or anything...” Although he most definitely hoped he'd want to wear the bracelet he had gotten him. “It's part of a set.” Seungkwan explained when Hansol opened the small box revealing a simple, elegant dark-colored bracelet. “I had our initials put on the inside, so it isn't so obviously a couple thing _and_ that way it's closest to your pulse. It's made from a very durable material. The seller said you can even wear it in the shower. You don't have to though.”

Hansol held out his arm. “Put it on me?”

Seungkwan smiled and nodded. He took the bracelet from him and placed it around his wrist.

“Can I see yours? Did you bring it?”

“Of course.” Seungkwan got the other part of the set, slightly thinner and with the color pattern switched, and let Hansol put in on him.

Hansol ran his hand up Seungkwan's arm to the edge of his bathrobe covering his chest. He slowly pushed it down his shoulders. “Do you want to try out what the deal is with vibrating beds?” He asked and locked their lips in a passionate kiss. He pulled his boyfriend on top of his lap and rid him of the bathrobe completely. “You're so beautiful, Seungkwan.”

He felt his face heat up, but didn't look away. He leaned down and slipped his tongue inside Hansol's half-open mouth. He felt two strong hands on his butt and he moaned into the touch. He leaned their foreheads together. “Happy anniversary.”

<>

Both completely spent, they lay on top of the sheets listening to the music coming from Hansol's phone. “Today was perfect.” Seungkwan said and he wrapped his leg over Hansol's body. “Promise me that we'll spend our anniversary together in person again next year.”

“Of course.”

{Night before Hansol's departure}

Although classes wouldn't start for another two weeks, Hansol was set to leave tomorrow. He had orientation for foreign students in a week and his family had decided to fly there with him to celebrate a short family vacation. A part of Seungkwan wished he could go with them, but he couldn't ask them or his mother to pay for him. Nor did he want to take away from the time his parents and little sister could spend with him. So he had to make due with seeing him off at the airport. He was spending the night over at Hansol's and his mother would pick him up from the airport after.

Currently shirtless on top of his boyfriend Seungkwan looked down and sighed.

“What's wrong?”

“I don't know. It just doesn't feel- It's-”

“Like we _have_ to have sex tonight?”

“Yeah...”

Hansol ran his hand up and down his boyfriend's arm. “We don't. Have to, I mean.”

Seungkwan lower lip naturally came out in a pout, “But...”

“Babe, I know it'll be a while before we can be physically together again, but that doesn't mean we have to force ourselves to have sex right now. We can just cuddle and go to sleep.”

Seungkwan lowered his body so he could lie down on Hansol's bare chest. “Are you sure?”

“I don't want the last time we have sex before I leave to feel like a chore.” He wrapped his arms around Seungkwan's shoulders. “This is perfect. Let me smell you. Take in your scent.”

“Creepy.” Seungkwan said as if he didn't want to bury his nose in Hansol's chest.

In each other's arms they started to drift to sleep.

The next morning Seungkwan was the first to wake. “Sollie? Are you awake?” He asked as he lightly poked Hansol's cheek.

“Hm?” He groaned in response. “What time is it? Do we have to leave for the airport already?”

“We still have time.” Seungkwan whispered. “And I was thinking...maybe we can have sex real quick?”

“Oh yeah?”

Seungkwan bit his lower lip and nodded. Last night neither of them hadbeen into it, but when he woke up Seungkwan had the urge to be close to him one last time. “Only if you want to.”

A smirk appeared on Hansol's barely awake face.

<>

The ride to the airport was dreadful. Hansol's family was still going to spend time with him and weren't feeling the same sadness as Seungkwan was. Besides, wasn't it only natural for children and older brothers to move out at some point? He was determined not to cry before they had disappeared into check-in. He was glad his parents and sister went in first, giving them some space to say goodbye by themselves.

“Call me when you land? Or get to the hotel anyway.”

“It'll be the middle of the night here.”

“I've told you I don't care. I know what time your plane lands and the average time it will take to get to your hotel. I'll be awake. Call me.”

Hansol nodded. “I love you, Boo Seungkwan.”

Instead of saying it back Seungkwan pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. He was not going to cry.

“I have to go.”

Seungkwan nodded, but he didn't let go off his hand. “I love you, too, Hansol. So much.” His lip quivered and he knew he was about to break.

“Isn't your mom here yet?” He hated to leave him here all by himself.

Seungkwan shrugged. “It's fine. Just go.”

“I can wait a little longer.” His family was waiting for him, he knew that, but the longer he waited, the less he wanted to go.

A few more minutes went by and Hansol felt his phone vibrate. Probably one of his parents telling him the line for the security check was long and he didn't have more time. He took a deep breath and Seungkwan did the same. They finally let go of each other's hands knowing it was time.

Hansol turned around and started walking away. Seungkwan was expecting him to turn around one more time so he had to hold back his tears a little bit longer. He bit his lip trying not to turn into a blubbering mess in the middle of the departure hall. He felt utterly alone. But then there was a hand on his shoulder. It startled him and he jerked away from the touch. He looked to his side and found it was Mingyu standing next to him. From his other side Seokmin yelled out.

“Hansol!” He waved happily when Hansol turned around. His face broke out in a smile when he saw all of his high school friends standing there. He hurried the short distance back.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked.

“You didn't think we'd leave Seungkwan alone at a time like this, did you?” Jeonghan answered. “We know you guys wanted to say goodbye one-on-one, but we figured he might want some company after that.”

“We tried waiting until after you left, but you two just kept standing there.” Jihoon said.

“Honestly, we wanted to say goodbye again, too, man.” Jisoo added.

“You guys, thank you so much. But I really have to go now.” He quickly hugged all of them and pressed a final kiss on Seungkwan's lips. “I'll talk to you in a few hours.”

This time he really went. It took zero seconds after he was gone before Seungkwan started crying. Mingyu wrapped his arm around him and started guiding him to the exit.

“Come on, Seungkwan.” Chan said. “We're going to the beach!”

“The beach?” He asked with a shaky voice.

“Yeah!” Jeonghan said. “We've rented a mini van and we'll go to the beach and have a barbecue! We've got Cheol and Soonyoung outside keeping the parking spot, so we have to hurry.”

If they would have asked him beforehand he would have told them he wanted to be alone for the rest of the day, waiting for Hansol to call. But these guys seemed to know him better than he knew himself, because a little bit of distraction sounded perfect right now. He wasn't alone. He had his friends. He had Hansol's call later to look forward to. And he would start college soon. Things weren't all bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jihoon told Seungkwan about the hotel  
> -What did you think of the anniversary gifts? They actually didn't really do gifts last year, but this year felt different
> 
> College will begin...and the challenge of a long-distance relationship


	77. C1-1 Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan has graduated high school and is ready for college. First things first, moving into his new room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo~ College is finally here!

It was orientation and move-in weekend for Boo Seungkwan's first year of college. He checked his hair in the rear-view mirror and plucked at a few loose strands, trying to get them to sit right. To no avail. He sighed and sank back in his chair.

“Nervous?” His dad asked from the driver's seat. Since it was the weekend it was easier for him to make the journey up. Seungkwan was grateful that he had come. He pretended not to care about whether or not his father came to these things, but he did. Although he couldn't help but feel a bit weird sitting in the car with both of his parents like this.

“Not really.” Seungkwan answered truthfully and stared out the window as they pulled up on the university's parking lot. It was crawling with students and their families. It was true that he wasn't nervous, but he missed Hansol and felt frustrated because of it. As if they were connected through telepathy, Seungkwan's phone chimed and he opened the message his boyfriend had sent him.

_Just going to bed now. Good luck with moving in. Send me pics. Say hi to your parents._

Attached was a photo of Hansol, shirtless, on top of his bed with messy hair. With red ears Seungkwan quickly closed the app. “Hansol says hi.” He mumbled. As soon as the car was parked he got out. “I have to go register and get my room key and stuff. I'll be right back.” He slammed the door shut and opened his chat with Hansol again as he walked, looking around for the sign-in.

_Can you send pics of you half-naked when I'm not with my parents!? Good night. Love you_

He easily found the booth to pick up his information packet and he smiled politely at the girl who helped him. “Your room-number is written right here and here's a map of the building you're in.”

“Thank you so much.” He said to her and walked back to where his parents were waiting. Figuring out the map, his dad moved the car to a spot closer to his dorm. Seungkwan groaned looking at his stuff. He was on the third floor and despite the presence of an elevator, he was not looking forward to hauling these boxes up there.

In the elevator, each carrying a box, his mother decided to inquire about her son's best friend who had to be moving in today as well. “What about Mingyu? Is he here yet?”

“Yeah, he texted me a while ago. He's already unloading his stuff with his family” If luck was on his side, Mingyu was already done and could lend them a hand. The doors of the elevator opened and Seungkwan looked at the numbers on the doors. All the way down the hall he spotted Mingyu in a sleeveless shirt carrying a box of stuff. “See. There he is. Showing off.”

Mingyu's face lit up when he saw Seungkwan. He put down his box and hurried over. “Oh my god, are we in the same building?” he asked with a big smile and he took the box Seungkwan's mother had been carrying.

Seungkwan smirked and kept walking, “I'll do you one better: same room. Number seventeen, right?”

“Are you serious!? Wow. This is awesome! Dad!” He yelled out to the room. “Dad, me and Seungkwan are roommates!”

Mr. Kim popped out his head from their room and smiled at the news. “That's great!”

“What a coincidence. It's like fate or something.” Mingyu beamed.

Seungkwan put down his box away from Mingyu's stuff and scoffed. “What coincidence? You didn't think I was going to share four years of my life rooming with some random guy, did you? At least with you I know what I'm getting.”

Mingyu's smile quickly turned into a frown. “How?”

Seungkwan smiled triumphantly, “Not many people seem to know this, but this university let's you put in a roommate request.”

“And you did that without even asking me!? The school just let's you do that!? What if you were some freak obsessed with me or something!”

“Why are you complaining? You were all happy when you thought it was a coincidence. You called it fate! I just wanted to surprise you!”

Mingyu was ready to snap back, but he got slapped on the shoulder by his dad who let out a bellowing laugh. “Boys, boys, stop bickering. You sound like an old married couple.”

“Dad!” Mingyu knew his father was going to embarrass him on his first day.

“Now, Seungkwan. I've already met your lovely mother at graduation, but do I take it this gentleman is your father?” Mr.Kim asked and he held out his hand for Seungkwan's father. “Your son has been a great friend to my idiot.”

Seungkwan chuckled and smirked smugly at Mingyu (who was further embarrassed by the presence of his father). He was slightly amused by the way his father was awkwardly shaking Mingyu's father's hand with a slightly confused look on his face.

“Dad, this is Mr. Kim and this is Mingyu. My best friend or whatever. I've told you about him, haven't I? He was in some of my graduation pictures.”

“Oh, eh, right. Nice to meet you, Mingyu.”

“Seungkwan!” Mingyu's younger sister suddenly appeared in the doorway and happily hopped to stand next to her brother's friend. “Is your room on this floor too?”

“Actually, me and Mingyu are roommates.” He replied with a smile.

The young girl's eyes widened. “And they were roommates.” She whispered. Both Seungkwan and Mingyu looked at each other confused and just chuckled. Mingyu's mother joined them as well and more introductions were made. Seeing as all of Mingyu's stuff was pretty much taken care of already, the family offered to help with Seungkwan's things. Before long their room was filled with boxes.

“Well, I think it's time for us parents to let you boys settle in. What do you think?” Mingyu's father asked Seungkwan's parents.

Seungkwan's mother, tears forming in her eyes, nodded. She took her son's face in her hands and kissed his cheeks. Seungkwan also felt tears forming in his eyes. “The commute isn't that long. I could just stay at home.” He sniffed.

His mother smiled, “Don't be silly. We both know you're ready to be on your own. But...” she let go of her son and turned her attention to Mingyu, “I'm glad you're not all alone.” She gently stroked her son's hair, “I was a bit worried since you've been so sad now that Hansol is far away, but with Mingyu so close and the wonder of the internet I'm sure you'll be fine.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Seungkwan. Me and Mingyu's mother once spent months apart because of an internship and we're still going strong.” Mr. Kim weighed in.

Mrs. Kim smiled at her husband with a look in her eyes that Seungkwan had never seen from his own mother, not even when his parents' marriage hadn't been so bad yet. Mingyu has his mother's eyes, he thought.

Seungkwan's mother inhaled deeply, “All right. You boys make sure to clean your stuff up right away or else it will just stay in boxes for the whole year.” She gave both of them a hug goodbye. Seungkwan shared an awkward pat-on-the-back type of hug with his dad. Mingyu's sister hugged her brother goodbye and whispered something in his ear. Seungkwan couldn't hear what she said, but Mingyu just rolled his eyes and gave her a playful shove.

Once they were alone Mingyu immediately opened the first box and started arranging his things. Seungkwan groaned. “Can't we walk around first...I want to check out our floor and stuff.”

“Come on, Kwan! You wanted to be my roommate. You should know by now that I like things tidy.”

With a grunt Seungkwan reluctantly agreed and dragged a box close to the bed so he could open it while sitting. He pulled out a framed picture of him and Hansol and placed it on his bedside table.

“Seungkwan?”

“Hm?”

“Does Hansol know we're roommates?”

“Yeah. He said I shouldn't go behind your back, but I just thought you'd like the surprise.” He looked up at Mingyu. “Are you mad? That I didn't tell you?”

Mingyu sat down next to him on the bed. “Well, I mean, you could have just told me. But, no. I'm not mad.” He softly patted the other boy's hair. “I know it's not completely the same, but I know a little about how you feel right now. Last year, when Wonwoo went to college I felt so left behind. Of course, he had to go, I know that. But the feeling sucked.”

Seungkwan placed his head on Mingyu's shoulder and sighed. “Did you guys ever have video sex?”

“What!?”

“Sorry...It's just that Jeonghan mentioned to me once that Jisoo didn't feel comfortable having phone sex or something and I was just wondering if you and Wonwoo ever...You never talk about him, so I never talk about him, but I feel like you're really over him now, so I thought it'd be okay.”

“And so you want to know if we ever had video sex? Like, that's _the_ thing that's been on your mind?”

Seungkwan sat up and frowned up at him. “It's not because I'm a pervert! It's just- Me and Hansol are so far away from each other and I don't know when we'll see each other again and maybe that's something we should try, but I have no idea how that is and-”

“We did.” Mingyu said, not looking directly at him. “My advice is to do it in stages if you're not completely comfortable. I mean, it's awkward as fuck at first. So maybe first just do it while only showing a part of yourself or something. But I'm no expert. We only did it a few times.”

“Do you ever think about how he's doing?” Seungkwan asked carefully.

Mingyu leaned back on his hands and chewed his bottom lip. “Yeah. It's annoying really. How an ex just seems to pop up in your head every so often.” He smiled softly. “I'm not mad at him anymore, though. I hope he's doing okay. He's good at stressing himself out and college, from what I hear, is pretty stressful.”

Seungkwan nodded. He felt relieved that Wonwoo was no longer a topic that gave Mingyu that hurt look on his face. Of course Mingyu had insisted to be over him many times before, but it had taken time for Seungkwan to actually believe him.

Mingyu suddenly jumped up from the bed and stretched his arms. “Come on, let's finish unpacking so we can go look around. Keep your eyes open for eligible gay guys for me. I seriously need a new boyfriend.”

Seungkwan laughed, “Is that why you're walking around in a tank top? To attract men with your biceps?”

“Shut up! It's warm today!” He felt his upper-arm. “Do you really think my biceps are hot enough to attract men?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. Was his best friend really so oblivious to how good he looked? “Don't you want someone who likes you for your personality instead of your body?”

“Why not both?” Mingyu laughed. He opened another one of his boxes of clothes and started to put them in his closet. “Anyway, as my wingman you have to help me.”

“Did I ever actually agree to this? Besides, what do you need my help for anyway?”

“Please, Kwannie. You know I get shy.”

Seungkwan scoffed. “You didn't need my help the first time you made out with Wonwoo. In an alley. And you most certainly didn't need my help hooking up with Hyunggu.” He got up and placed his hands on Mingyu's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. “But fine. Tomorrow at the party, _if_ you have trouble finding an eligible bachelor, then I'll try to help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Mingyu's sister is a Boogyu shipper, just fyi lol  
> -Seungkwan and Mingyu roommates, what do you think?   
> -the party is a first year's only party (which will also be the next chapter...one of them will have a good time, the other less so)


	78. C1-2 Long Distance Party Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Seungkwan go to the first years party after getting some visitors in their room.

In the twenty-four hours that Seungkwan had spent at his college dorm he had determined a few things that he liked and did not like about his new living arrangements. He liked that it was co-ed. It was nice to have some female energy around again. Overall he really liked the vibe of their floor. He hadn't spoken to all of the people yet, but most of them seemed nice. He also liked sharing a room with Mingyu, so far. He didn't have to feel self-conscious about anything and having him close helped him not to feel homesick. What he most definitely did not like was the shared bathroom. While Seungkwan and Mingyu both kept their things in their room, not everybody seemed to worry about others using their shampoo. It had been a day and it was already a mess of products and randomly discarded towels. The chaos of the bathroom, however, paled in comparison to the current chaos in their room caused by a quartet of visitors.

Seokmin, Jihoon, Jisoo, and Jeonghan had come to see them, unannounced, around lunchtime the day after they moved in. “We should have invited Chan over.” Seungkwan mumbled, more to himself than anything. He felt bad about their youngest being left behind at high school. “Maybe I should call him.”

“Don't worry about him.” Jeonghan said just as he placed a picture of himself on Seungkwan's desk. “I asked him to come, actually, and he said he had plans.”

Seungkwan clicked his tongue. “I can't believe he doesn't want to see our room.”

“I bet he has a new love interest.” Jisoo thought out loud.

“Do you think it's that guy?” Jeonghan asked in return.

“What guy?” Seungkwan demanded. If Chan had some guy in his life and hadn't told Seungkwan about it, he'd be royally pissed off. One friend who didn't tell him anything about his love life was enough.

“Didn't he tell you?” Jeonghan gloated and he wrapped and arm around Seungkwan's shoulders. “He met some guy on vacation and rumor has it they made out. Maybe more.”

“I don't think it's him.” Jisoo continued the conversation. “Didn't he say he lived on the other side of the country?”

“Oh yeah. Maybe it's that girl?”

“He has a girl too!?” Mingyu let out a frustrated groan. “I'd better start getting ready. I _have_ to meet someone tonight.”

“You don't have to try so hard.” Jihoon interjected himself into the conversation. “You look good and you're clearly desperate. You won't have any trouble finding someone.”

“You think?” Mingyu said while busy throwing nearly the entire contents of his closet onto his bed.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “I don't think you should consider 'clearly desperate' as a compliment, Gyu.” He glared over at Seokmin. “Can you, like, not sit on my bed?”

Knowing that Seungkwan had no trouble sitting on other people's beds himself, everybody moved as one unit to sit down and take over the bed completely. Seungkwan sighed and gave up. “Are you sure you guys can't come to the party?” He pouted. “I won't know anybody except Mingyu and you all heard that he has plans to ditch me as soon as the opportunity arises.”

“So? Meet some new people. That's kind of the point of the first-years only party, you know?” Jisoo said.

“I know.” Seungkwan mumbled back. He knew why he wasn't really looking forward to the party tonight. As much as he tried to convince himself to just go and have fun, his mind was across the ocean with his boyfriend. He hoped this aching feeling caused by not being with him would subside soon. He had been expecting to miss him, of course, but it was so much more difficult than he had anticipated. He squeezed himself onto the bed between Jihoon and Seokmin and opened his mouth for the bite of food Jihoon offered him.

{ _That night, party}_

Seungkwan fumbled with his wristband as he followed Mingyu to the bar. He had no intention of getting drunk the night before his first day of classes, but one drink probably wouldn't hurt. Mingyu made the contents of his drink disappear in the time it took for them to walk around the hall and find a spot near a wall to take in all the people.

“Now what?” Seungkwan asked. “I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be a wingman. Maybe if we were at a gay bar and I didn't run the risk of approaching a straight guy for you. Next time we're going somewhere, we're bringing Jihoon. I know Jeonghan likes to think he has the best gaydar, but he doesn't have any actual experience looking for potential dates.”

Mingyu hummed in agreement. If they were being honest, Jihoon probably had the best game out of all of them. And that was only based off what he or Seokmin had told them. He let his eyes roam over the crowd. Despite his bold words, he wasn't actually sure how to go about hitting on people. As they stood there, neither of them sure what the next step in getting Mingyu a man was, a cheerful looking girl approached them. Or, to be more precise, she approached Mingyu.

“Hey. Do you want to dance?”

Mingyu straightened his back and awkwardly cleared his throat. “Sorry, I'm sure you're a nice person, but I'm gay, single, and ready to mingle. With men.”

The smile on the girl's face melted into a confused frown. “Ehm, okay. Good for you? I just wanted to dance.”

Seungkwan had a similar look on his face and he pulled Mingyu down. “What the fuck was that? You don't have to be rude to the poor girl.”

The taller man shrugged him off. “What? I _am_ gay, single and ready to mingle with men. What good will it do me if I dance with girls?” There was a light tap on his shoulder and Mingyu turned around to stare in the eyes of a handsome young man, shorter than himself, but not my much.

“Sorry, I couldn't help but overhearing and perhaps you'd like to dance with me then?” He had short bouncy black hair, a strong jaw and playful eyes. Mingyu threw a quick glance in Seungkwan's direction before he nodded to the young man. “Yeah, totally. I'll dance with you.”

Seungkwan leaned against the wall a bit miffed it had taken about ten minutes before he was left alone. The girl leaned against the wall next to him. “Probably for the best.” She said. “He's so tall, I'd strain my neck trying to talk to him.” She sighed and turned her head to look at Seungkwan. “Do you want to dance? Or are you also gay, single and ready to mingle. With men?”

Seungkwan couldn't help but chuckle. “Gay, yes. Single and mingle, no. I'll dance with you though. If you want.”

Her face brightened and she grabbed Seungkwan by the hand. “Yay! Let's go! I'm Dahyun, by the way.”

“Seungkwan.” He answered and he let himself get dragged onto the dance floor.

“So, Seungkwan. If you're not single, where's your boyfriend? He around here somewhere?” The girl named Dahyun asked while they started dancing.

“Oh, ehm, he doesn't go here.” She must have seen the sadness in his eyes, because she didn't ask any further questions. They just danced with a thread of light conversation weaved through here and there. At some point a few girls from Dahyun's floor joined them and Seungkwan found himself dancing surrounded by girls. Not the worst of times.

But when some random person bumped into him with their drunk movements, Seungkwan was reminded about his best friend out here somewhere doing who knows what. He wanted to make sure he hadn't gotten too drunk and was busy doing something stupid, so he said goodbye to the girls and started walking around the dance floor. When it was clear Mingyu was no longer dancing, he started looking elsewhere and ended up finding him with the guy from earlier attached to his lips and pressed up against a wall in the back of the hall. As far as he could tell he was enjoying himself to say the least, so he wasn't sure what to do next. He could try to find Dahyun and hang out with her and her friends again, but, if he was being honest, what he really wanted to do was to go back to his room and talk with Hansol. One of the worst things about this long distance was the time difference and figuring out their schedules. So far, Seungkwan had mostly been matching Hansol's, seeing as he didn't have any classes yet, but that was about to change. They would both become busier and their time even more limited. He took out his phone. Hansol was probably awake by now.

_You up?_

It didn't take long before the three dots appeared on the screen and a reply came. Seungkwan looked at Mingyu again and tapped him on the arm. Again, a bit harder. “Mingyu!” He whined and pulled his arm until he finally detached himself from the other man. “Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to go. Don't get drunk and stumble in all loud when I'm asleep, but do call me if you need me.”

“You're leaving already? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I just want to talk to Hansol, so I'm going back to our room.” He got up on his tiptoes and whispered in his ear. “Have fun. Be safe.”

{ _Seungkwan and Mingyu's room}_

“How was the party?” Hansol asked. His hair was still a mess and he failed to suppress a yawn.

“It was alright. Met some girls.”

“Oh yeah?” Hansol said with another yawn.

“Yeah. They were nice. I could use the company, too. Mingyu got hit on in like two seconds and when I left he was busy making out. I hope he doesn't come back too late and wake me up.”

“Who says he's coming back?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if he spends the night with that guy?”

Seungkwan furrowed his brows together, “They literally just met. And we have our first classes tomorrow.” The last thing he wanted was to parent his best friend, but he hoped he hadn't made a mistake leaving him alone at that party.

“Then I'm sure he'll be home soon.” Hansol said, mostly just to calm down Seungkwan.

He nodded, but checked his phone for any messages anyway. They filled an hour or so with Seungkwan showing him more details of his room and talking about each other's days. Seungkwan was just relaying what he had heard about Chan's possible love life when the door opened.

Mingyu made a not so straight line to Seungkwan's desk and leaned down to wrap his arms around his shoulders. “Seungkwaaan. I was looking all over for you!”

Seungkwan deadpanned into the camera and saw Hansol snicker, “Well, now you found me.” Any worry from before quickly made way for annoyance at the way Mingyu was breathing his beer breath down his neck. “I told you I was coming here. Also, can you get off me?”

Mingyu did not. Instead, he sank down onto his knees and placed his head on Seungkwan's shoulder and started to whisper in his ear. With a look of disgust on his face Seungkwan tried to shrug him off. “Too much information! Way too much! What's wrong with you!?”

Mingyu only giggled and wrapped his arms tightly around Seungkwan again. Hansol stared at the scene not sure if he was amused or if he should feel bad for his boyfriend struggling. “What did he say?” He asked with a chuckle.

“You don't want to know. Trust me.”

Mingyu giggled again and looked at the screen. “Hey, Hansol. I didn't know you were here. Your hair looks funny.”

“Can you please be drunk in silence!? I'm trying to talk to my boyfriend!”

“Actually, babe, I really need to get in the shower and get going.”

Seungkwan pouted, “But it's Sunday...I thought we'd have more time to talk.”

“Yeah, I know, but I'm just going to try out for the soccer team. I saw their flyer yesterday and thought it might be fun.”

“Soccer? Since when do you play soccer?”

Mingyu had released his grip on Seungkwan and crawled over to his bed and lied down with a loud groan, “I've been thinking...” he started talking with no regard to the conversation already going on, “We need to come up with a system to let the other person know when they can't come in.”

“Excuse me,” Seungkwan said to Hansol and he turned to face his drunk roommate, “Mingyu, shut up.”

“I mean,” Mingyu continued unbothered, “What if one of us wants to have sex here? Well, me I guess. Don't worry, Hansol!” he yelled and vaguely gestured in the direction of the laptop with his hand. “Unless you two want to have video sex. Have you tried it yet? Were you about to? Oh my god, you were, weren't you? I am so sorry. Please don't mind me. You won't even know I'm here.”

Seungkwan sighed, “I'm starting to regret picking him as my roommate.”

Hansol chuckled, “Already? He has some good ideas though. Except I'd rather he'd not be there.”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose, “You know what. Why don't you go and play soccer or whatever. I'll go take care of drunk Mingyu before this conversation gets any weirder.”

“OK. Love you.”

“I love you too. Let me know how it goes.”

Seungkwan closed his laptop and stood up. He stared down at Mingyu splayed out on his bed. “So, this is what my college life is going to be like? A long distance relationship and a roommate who comes home drunk and starts whispering in my ear about the oral sex he just had? That's just great.”

“I'm not _that_ drunk.” Mingyu mumbled. He lifted an uncoordinated arm and tried to grab Seungkwan. “Sleep with me. I want to cuddle something.”

“And have you throw up all over me? I don't think so. I'll get you some water and Aspirin and then we're going to sleep.”

“Hmkay.” He mumbled, pulling his blanket closer into a lump.

After making sure Mingyu was under his blanket instead of using it as a cuddle partner he crawled into his own bed. He sent a final message to Hansol wishing him luck with his soccer thing (still wondering since when he was interested in soccer) and double checked he had set at least three alarms. Tomorrow college was really going to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Jeonghan putting a photo of himself in their room just feels like something he would do  
> -I just wanted Seungkwan to hang with some girls, because Seungkwan loves girls tbh  
> -Seungkwan: doesn't ask Chan to come. Also Seungkwan: I can't believe he doesn't want to come wtf
> 
> I have to figure out what exactly the next chapter will be, but a few hints of things that will happen soon: a more intimate Verkwan video call, Boogyu getting part-time jobs, Seokmin might finally stop being a lonely single?


	79. C1-3 College professors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Seungkwan both start their first day of classes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to update at a faster pace than I did during their last year of high school, but I'll have to find time to write lol

Through a miracle, Seungkwan had actually woken up on time and gotten himself and Mingyu down to the cafeteria to join Seokmin and the others for breakfast. He didn't think he was going to make a habit of it. If he just ate something quick in his room he could probably get at least twenty more minutes of sleep in.

Mingyu groaned when Seungkwan poked him to try to get him to lift his head from the table.

“Stop whining. It would have been a lot worse if I hadn't taken care of you.”

“I know...” Mingyu mumbled and he sat up. “I'm sorry I interrupted your sexy time with Hansol last night.”

“What!?” Seungkwan's face turned red and he looked around the table. “He didn't! We weren't-” The rest of the table snickered. It felt like high school again, when Seungkwan had just transferred. Him and Mingyu bickering while the members of the music club watched amused. He lightly slapped Mingyu on the shoulder. “Me and Hansol were just talking and then _you_ started rambling on about us having video sex.”

“Did I? I was sure that...”

Jeonghan snickered, “Maybe you had a sexy dream about Hansol and Seungkwan doing it in front of you. Guys, we just discovered Mingyu's kink. Voyeurism.”

Mingyu glared at him, “Why are you here again? You don't even go to this school.”

“Luck would have it that I don't have any classes until late in the afternoon on Mondays, so I helped Jisoo settle back into his dorm room.” He answered and held his boyfriend's hand under the table.

“You might be onto something.” Seungkwan pointed his finger in Jeonghan's direction and turned to look at Mingyu's pained face. “I mean, you did say to not mind you and that we wouldn't even know you were there.”

“I did _not_ say that! And even if I did, I probably meant I'd put on headphones and hide under the covers or something.”

“And then when they've forgotten you're there you peak out from under. Getting your sick pleasures.” Jeonghan continued dramatically.

“Shut up.”

“How's it going though?” Seokmin asked. “The long distance thing I mean? I know it's only been a few weeks since he left, but?”

“Yeah, no, it's good I guess. Not as good as if he was actually _here_ , but we're making it work. I just wish I could do stuff like hold his hand or steal one of his T-shirts to smell.”

“No offense, but ew.”

“Shut up, you single. I just like the way he smells. At least I'm not trying to watch my friends have sex, like _some_ people at this table.”

“Let me live!” Mingyu cried. “I'm going to class. Wherever that is.”

“Let me see your schedule.” Jihoon said and held out his hand for Mingyu to show it to him. “It's close to my first class. I'll show you.”

Mingyu's face brightened and he wrapped his long arms around his smaller friend. “Finally someone who is nice to me.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. He thought he was plenty nice.

_{Late afternoon, dorm room}_

Seungkwan was sitting at his desk going over the notes he had taken that day and he felt pretty accomplished in his role of college student so far. His first professor had been amazing. So funny and interesting that Seungkwan's biggest concern for that class was that he'd get too distracted whenever Prof Seo Eunkwang would let out his energetic laugh that brightened up the room. He played with the couple bracelet wrapped around his wrist for a few seconds and picked up his phone. He took a dozen selfies before he was satisfied with his 'look how well I'm studying am I cute?'-face and sent it to Hansol. Despite knowing that his boyfriend was most likely still asleep he stared at the screen for a minute, hoping his message would be read.

He had lost his study motivation and was glad when Mingyu walked in a few minutes later giving him an excuse to stop. The tall man sat down in his own chair and Seungkwan swirled around so they were sitting face-to-face. “You didn't reply to me about dinner. About if you want to eat together.”

“Sorry. Yeah, of course. I have plenty of ramen by the way. We can eat that.”

Seungkwan nodded. “How was your day? You had two classes today, right?”

Mingyu exhaled deeply. “Do you think it's wrong to sleep with a professor?”

“Excuse me?”

“One of my professors. He's gorgeous, Seungkwan. How am I supposed to learn stuff about psychology when my brain is distracted by that man's physique?”

“Well, maybe he can use you as a case study. We've been here two days and you've already gone third base with some random guy whose name you didn't even bother to remember and now you want to sleep with your professor!?”

“I'm not planning on _actually_ sleeping with him!” He sighed and stared into space. “But, man...if professor Park ever fails me I might explore what my options are.”

“Mingyu, what the actual fuck. I'm going to make sure you don't fail _anything_ to keep you on the right moral path.”

“I'm just kidding!”

“Are you though? You seem to have caught a bad case of horniness the moment we stepped on campus. I thought you wanted a boyfriend, not just random sex?”

“Yeah, well, ideally. But right now I'm more in a taking it as it comes kind of mindset. So, anyway, I wasn't kidding when I said we need some sort of sign to let the other person know the room is...being used.”

“Can't you just have sex somewhere else?”

“Like where? And besides, you might want some private time too sometimes, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose you're right.” Even if it wasn't anything that involved sex, Seungkwan didn't need Mingyu there for all of his conversations with his boyfriend. “But I don't like the idea of the entire floor knowing something's up, so I don't want us to hang something super obvious on the door.”

“How about we lock the door and send each other a special emoji?” Mingyu suggested.

“Like what? An eggplant or something? What if I need the room for something else?”

“I don't know. Just send an emoji you otherwise never use. Like, eh, we could send a carrot.”

“Why a carrot?”

“I don't know. Look, it doesn't really matter, does it? Let's just agree to send a carrot emoji whenever one of us needs the room for something and then a diamond when we're done. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay. I'll start making the ramen. Do you want to watch something while we eat?”

“Or you can tell me more about that hot professor of yours.”

Mingyu bit on his lower lip and tried to suppress a giggle. “Do you want to see him? I secretly took a few pictures.”

“Creepy.” Seungkwan said, but he got up from his chair and walked over so he could see. “So, is the reason you mostly took pictures of his ass because you had less chance of getting caught while he had his back to you or...?”

“Well, I mean, look at it. I know you take pride in your butt, but look at this man. There is no reason for a college professor to be shaped like that.”

Seungkwan shook his head. “You should worry about your own ass and me kicking it if you let this crush distract you from the class.” Although he had to admit he understood Mingyu's struggle. He was even wearing glasses. One of Mingyu's weaknesses. “He is attractive. I'll give you that.”

Mingyu pulled his phone back and pouted. “He's even prettier in person. It's too much after years of the kind of teachers we had in high school. My brain needs some time to adjust.”

Seungkwan chuckled. “Your _brain?_ ”

“Shut up.” Mingyu laughed. He prepared food for them and they watched a movie together on Seungkwan's laptop. Mingyu didn't do any studying and Seungkwan didn't ask. Every once in a while he checked his phone, but in the end he didn't get a reply from Hansol until right before he was about to go to bed. The last thing he did before closing his eyes was telling him to have a good day and that he'd try to find him in his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I just had to put Eunkwang in here because I love him and Seungkwan loves him  
> -Mingyu's professor with the nice ass? Got7's Park Jinyoung (only he's older here and there is a bigger age gap than there is irl between him and Mingyu)  
> -The professors probably won't really play any important role, but I just thought it was fun to throw a few idols as professors into the mix. Also, Mingyu needed a professor crush (Seungkwan wasn't wrong when he said Mingyu has a bad case of horniness) 
> 
> Comments always appreciated <3


	80. C1-4 Missing things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan and Hansol miss things about each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really feeling my motivation right now, so I'm just going with the writing flow~

Seungkwan was grateful for the times where he and Hansol didn't have to hurt their brains trying to figure out a time where they were both awake and free so they could call. They had been talking for about fifteen minutes when Mingyu burst into the room wearing nothing but a towel.

“He overslept.” Seungkwan stated dryly as Mingyu let out sounds of panicked hurry in the background trying to get dressed at the speed of light.

“Does he always walk around like that?” Hansol asked after Mingyu yelled a goodbye and slammed the door shut.

“No.” Seungkwan answered. He couldn't tell by the look on his boyfriend's face if he thought it was funny or if he didn't like the fact that Mingyu walked around with barely any clothes on. “He just doesn't like to take his clothes to the shower room so he gets dressed here.” Seungkwan had told Hansol about his plan to make Mingyu his roommate, but he hadn't really thought about it potentially bothering him. He thought they were passed the boyfriend-jealous-of-best-friend thing. “Our schedules are different so I'm usually not here when he gets dressed.” He felt the need to explain further. “I take my clothes with me. I don't like the idea of walking through the hall in nothing but a towel.” Hansol was so lucky, he though. He had his own room and only shared a bathroom with three other people.

“So, eh...” Hansol shifted in his seat. “Does he have class now or something?”

“Yeah. Not sure what though.”

“So he'll be gone for a while?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Maybe we can try that video thing?” He looked into the camera shy and anticipating.

“What video thing? Like that mini game function they just- Oh...Oh you mean...that?”

Hansol nodded and a small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“It's the middle of the day!”

“Over here it's not. So...”

“I-” Seungkwan felt a nervous tingle moving up his digestive system. “Hold on.” He got up and walked over to the door. He slowly turned the lock. He sat back down, unsure what to do next. He glanced over at his phone, but since Mingyu was going to be in class anyway he thought he could do without secret emoji codes. “You don't just want to do this because you just saw Mingyu's bare back, right?” He narrowed his eyes at the screen.

“Can we not talk about Mingyu right before we get naked?” Hansol chuckled.

“We have to be naked?” Seungkwan mumbled.

“Well, don't we?” Hansol asked in response.

“I don't know. Yeah, I guess so.” With sudden determination he pulled his shirt off over his head. “Alright. Let's do this.” But sitting with his skin exposed like this, his determination left as quickly as it had come. “You know, I'm not so sure I want to do this sitting in my chair. Or full screen like this. Can we switch to phone?”

“Whatever makes you comfortable.” Hansol said, as if he wasn't at least as nervous and unsure of the how and what of video sex.

They hung up and Seungkwan got on his bed. When they re-connected he saw Hansol had done the same as well as taking off his shirt. “Are you still wearing pants?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.” They both stared at each other and Seungkwan let out a nervous giggle. “Why is this so awkward? Should we turn the video off? Maybe it'll help. We'll call it phase one.”

“How many phases are there?”

“How should I know? Do I look like a camboy to you?”

“You're hot and cute enough to be one.”

“Just take your pants off Chwe.” He shut his camera off, got on his back and lifted his hips up so he could wiggle out of the clothes that he was still wearing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to call down his nerves. He exhaled slowly, perhaps with a bit more breath and sound than was necessary, but he kind of hoped Hansol would hear him. “My stomach's warm.” He whispered. He still wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or to how to get going, so he just said what he was thinking as he gingerly ran his fingers further down his body.

“Mine's kind of cold.” Hansol low voice replied. “But my inner thigh is warm.”

Seungkwan swallowed at the thought of Hansol lying on his bed, naked, with a hand running dangerously close to his crotch. He hummed with approval. As it turned out he was far less shy letting his voice out than Hansol was and he made sure to exaggerate the sounds he made so they wouldn't be lost on his empty room. The combination of knowing that his carefully planned moans and heavy breaths were being well received and Hansol shyly telling him what he was doing to himself was working rather well, but he soon started to feel frustrated. “Sollie? Can I see your face?”

“Phase two?”

Multitasking in this particular situation proved difficult and Seungkwan accidentally dropped his phone on his face with a sharp thud after a minute or so of trying to find his best angle while continuing what he had been doing before. “Ow, fuck. Dammit this isn't working. Wait.” He got on his side and made use of his pillow and wall to prop his phone up. Over on his end, Hansol made a similar construction. Both more comfortable, they looked at each other through the screen. Seungkwan could tell from the way Hansol was moving that he had wrapped a hand around himself again. He did the same. “Doesn't this remind you of something?” Seungkwan whispered.

“The first time we jerked each other off?” Hansol chuckled and he chewed on his bottom lip, affection overflowing from his eyes.

It hadn't just been the first time touching each other like that. It had also been the first time they had exchanged I love yous. It sent a blush to Seungkwan's face. The memory floating through his mind gave him a nudge to be a little more bold with his words. “I miss your hands on my body.” He said in a low, but clear voice making sure not to look way from the camera.

Hansol's brows twitched upward in pleased surprise. “I miss your ass.” He replied with the same tone of voice.

“I miss you leaving kisses down my chest.”

“I miss the way you grab my hair when you ride me.”

“I miss the way you suck my neck just right.”

“I miss those beautiful lips wrapped around me.”

“I miss- I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

Their words died down and with eyes locked onto each other they sped up. Seungkwan's breath hitched when he spilled over the edge and he couldn't help closing his eyes and let the feeling wash over him. The view was all Hansol needed.

Seungkwan opened his eyes again and started blushing under Hansol's stare. “Did you?”

“Yeah. You want proof?”

Seungkwan frowned and scrunched up his nose. “I believe you.” He rolled on his back and found some tissues by his bed. He looked back at the screen and inhaled. “I really wish we could cuddle now.” He was glad they had done this. It was nice to feel some sort of intimacy, but at the same time the feeling of missing him was more profound than before.

“Me too.” His smile turned into a small smirk. “Maybe next time we can try out phase three.”

Seungkwan scoffed, “Yeah. Maybe.” He, like the lovesick fool he was, ran a finger over the screen as if he was caressing his boyfriend's face. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Yes, Mingyu overslept, but he hadn't taken a shower the night before and he hates to feel gross, so...  
> -I think I've said this before (maybe another fic) but it's not my fault that Verkwan's biggest kink is being in love with each other. Don't ever expect proper smut from me. They will always be slightly dumb and in love and fluffy  
> -Hansol's probably not too concerned with naked Mingyu. They're roommates and best friends, it happens (I guess??)
> 
> Time for Boogyu to get part-time jobs~


	81. C1-5 The Grind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu finds the perfect place for him and Seungkwan to get a part-time job. Seokmin accidentally shares some information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everybody is having a good day~

Seungkwan looked up when a bag was suddenly dropped on the table. “Why do you look so happy?” He asked Mingyu who sat down next to him with a wide grin on his face.

“Two reasons. First, you said you wanted to get a part-time job, right? I found the _perfect_ place! A new coffeehouse is going to open in like two weeks, just outside of campus! It's called _The Grind_ and I peeked inside and the interior looks super cozy, but modern at the same time. And, maybe the best part, I saw who I think is the owner walking around inside, he is beautiful by the way, and he had a rainbow pin on his jacket! We should totally work there!”

“A coffeehouse? Don't you just want to be part of a love story where you fall in love with a regular customer or something? Or the rainbow pin guy. He might not even be gay.”

“That is not what this is about! Not that I would object, but it just looked like a place with a nice vibe. Please just think about it? You love coffee! We can go by tomorrow and see if the owner is there then! I'm going with or without you, but I'd rather go with you.”

“Fine. I'll think about it.” It did sound pretty good. He did indeed love coffee and he wanted to get a part-time job so he could save up enough money for a plane-ticket in Hansol's direction in time for Spring Break. He had hoped for Christmas time, but plane tickets were criminally expensive around the holidays. “What's the second reason?”

“For what?”

“You said you're happy for two reasons.”

“Oh, right! I have a date!”

“With...?”

“His name is Jungkook and I met him today. Or actually, I talked to him for the first time today. I'd seen him before. He's a sophomore.”

“What are you going to do on your date?”

“Nothing special, I think. We're getting burgers.”

“Romantic.” Seungkwan scoffed, but corrected his own attitude quickly. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of Mingyu's shoulders after graduating high school and Seungkwan wouldn't want him to lose his new-found open attitude about who he was. “I hope you have fun and that he's nice.” He finished his iced Americano and stuffed his study material back in his bag. “I'll ask Seok if he wants to eat with me. I'll see you later tonight?”

Mingyu let out a little laugh. “Probably.”

{Seokmin & Jihoon's room}

Seungkwan sighed and put his phone down. He had been sitting on Jihoon's bed munching on some snacks and humming along to Seokmin's guitar play when he got a message from his roommate. “I guess Mingyu's date went well.”

“Oh?” Seokmin asked.

“He just sent me a carrot. It means he's doing something in our room that I don't want to walk in on.”

“Oh. Me and Jihoon just put a note on the door. Well, he does anyway.”

Seungkwan gave his friend a little smile. He wished someone would hurry up and make him his boyfriend. He knew Seokmin and even though he had been going on dates and putting himself out there as it were, he was also shy and his confidence wasn't the best. He was about to give him the ' _you're so great, anyone would be lucky to have you'_ talk when Seokmin's phone rang. Seungkwan watched as his face broke into a wide smile when he picked up.

“Hey!” Seokmin let out a little giggle that Seungkwan thought was adorable. Whoever he was talking to clearly had an effect on him. “Yeah. No, just hanging with Seungkwan now. Yeah. He and Mingyu are going to try to get jobs at a coffee place.” He laughed. “I know, right!”

Seungkwan followed the conversation with intrigue. Seokmin was all smiles and giggles, but then he sighed and the smile dropped from his face. “I don't know, Soon.”

Ah, so it was Soonyoung who he was talking to. Somehow he wasn't surprised.

“Okay, fine. Fine! I'll meet him.” He laughed into the phone, smile returned. He said goodbye and hung up. He threw his phone onto his bed and looked at Seungkwan. “Sorry. He just calls sometimes. He said he found _a great match_ for me. Again.”

“Hmm.” Seungkwan hummed in response. Previously he had thought to have seen a spark between those two, but seeing as Soonyoung kept insisting on setting Seokmin up with a bunch of people that weren't him perhaps he had been wrong. He kind of hoped he was wrong seeing how Seokmin had seem almost unable not to smile while talking to him. He didn't want his friend to be in love with someone that wasn't interested in him in that way.

Seokmin sighed and hopped onto the bed to sit next to Seungkwan. “I don't know. Maybe I should just focus on studying for a while and stop looking so hard. Don't they say that love comes when you least expect it? I think I'm going to tell Soon to stop setting me up after this guy.”

“Isn't this your problem? You're already assuming this date isn't going to end well. Maybe you should try to be a bit more open to the potential of a happy ending!”

“Maybe you're right. Maybe I should trust Soon's judgment more. I mean, he does keep insisting he's the best match-maker in the world and every time I say anything he just says _'remember what I did for Wonwoo and-'_ ” Seokmin slapped his hands in front of his mouth and stared at Seungkwan with big eyes.

“Wonwoo has a boyfriend?”

Seokmin nodded.

“Oh.” Seungkwan felt a tug at his heart, but he realized it wasn't because he felt bad for Mingyu. It had been a year since their break-up, Mingyu had slept with other people since then, he was even with a date right now. He didn't think he'd exactly be happy to know his ex had a new boyfriend, but he'd probably be okay. No, more than that Seungkwan felt sad because he actually missed Wonwoo. He had no idea what was going on with him and clearly some of his other friends did. “Have you met him?”

Seokmin shook his head. “Not really.”

“What does that mean?”

“I just saw them once. But I didn't talk to him or anything. I only know his name is Jun and that he's an exchange student. Soonyoung knows the topic of Wonwoo is a bit awkward in our group, but they're roommates and he's like his best friend so sometimes it just comes up, you know?”

“Yeah.” Seungkwan replied and they dropped the topic. He returned to his room after he got a message from Mingyu letting him know the coast was clear. He didn't mention Wonwoo. Instead he spent the rest of the night listening to Mingyu's colorful retelling of his date and looking up things someone working at a coffeehouse should know. If he was going to apply for a job at one, he wanted to be prepared.

{Coffeehouse _The Grind_ , next day}

Mingyu had been right. The moment they had knocked on the door and stepped inside in the almost-ready-for-business coffeehouse Seungkwan started to question if he should just drop out of college right now and become a full time barista. He had also been right about the owner. He was indeed beautiful. Elegant, charming, tan, tall, and, luckily, very welcoming to their inquiry about any job openings.

He greeted them with a warm smile and pointed at one of the tables for them to sit down. “Normally I'd invite you back to my office, but it's a mess right now. So many things to take care of before the big opening. In any case, my name is Cha Hakyeon and, as you two seemed to have guessed, the owner of this fine establishment.”

“This place looks really wonderful, Mr. Cha.” Seungkwan said and Mingyu nodded in agreement.

“I walked by here yesterday and I immediately knew me and Seungkwan would be perfect for this place! The modern, yet cozy atmosphere is sure to draw in a lot of customers right away.” Mingyu said and Seungkwan nodded along. “And you, sir. I'm sure _you_ will attract a- Ow!” Seungkwan's face betrayed nothing about how he had just kicked Mingyu under the table.

The coffeehouse owner just laughed shyly and didn't seem all that bothered by Mingyu's inappropriately timed flirtations. “So, you two are interested in working here? Do you have any experience?”

“Well, not exactly.” Seungkwan admitted. “But I _love_ coffee and we're both very willing to learn and work hard.”

“The job can be learned. However, what I'm looking for in anyone who works here and represents my business is their attitude. I think it goes without saying that customer service is extremely important in this line of work, but more than that I want this to be a place of inclusion and acceptance where anyone can be themselves. Unless they're not wearing pants, because I don't need that sort of thing in here. It's a place for coffee, not partying.” He laughed at his own joke. “Now, I've noticed you glancing at my little pin here and I can almost hear you thinking ' _is he gay?'_. He is. I am very open about these things, but I will not allow people taking my sexuality and make it my whole personality. The same goes for my coffeehouse.”

“Of course, Mr. Cha. Actually, I'm g-” Mingyu started, but Hakyeon held up his hand and smiled.

“While I want my employees to feel free to talk to me about whatever is going on with them, I'd never want anyone to feel like they _have_ to tell me the intimate details of their personal lives. Especially not if they think telling me certain things will up their chances of getting hired in the first place.”

“I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-” Mingyu stammered, but the man across him waved his concerns away with his hand. “It's fine.”

“What he meant to say,” Seungkwan spoke up, “Is that we are very open-minded and accepting people and we would take pride in making sure that coming here is a positive experience for anyone who walks through the door.”

The man across from them smiled and cocked his head to the side. “I'll tell you what we'll do. The place doesn't open for another week and a half, so why don't we use that time to get you boys some training and see if this is the right fit for us? I know you're both in college, so we'll work something out schedule wise.”

“Really? Thank you so much, Mr. Cha!” Seungkwan said. “We won't disappoint you. Will we, Mingyu?”

“N-no! We won't! Thank you, Mr. Cha!”

Hakyeon laughed and he stood up. “You're welcome. Now I really must get back to work, so take my card and we'll be in touch.” He handed both of them a business card and shook their hands. “Oh, and, you don't have to call me Mr. Cha. Hakyeon is fine.”

Once outside the two boys couldn't contain their glee and jumped up and down holding hands. “I can't believe we just got hired! Sort of!” Seungkwan cheered. “Although you almost blew it by getting all weird and flirting with him! What the fuck was that!?” He lightly slapped Mingyu on the arm.

“I'm sorry! He's just very attractive and I- I don't know what happened! I won't do it again! I just want to work here.”

“Good. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to see if Hansol is available so I can tell him!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Okay so, I named it The Grind because it's coffee which you grind and also it sounds like Grindr...so...  
> -I love Cha Hakyeon. Everybody in the world should have a crush on him. It's not Mingyu's fault.  
> -Mingyu's current dating status: Jungkook, just dating, not boyfriends (just FYI they only went up to the room to make-out)  
> -For now Jun was only mentioned, but he'll show up in the flesh at some point  
> -Next time we'll see if Soonyoung finally got it right


	82. C1-6 Coffeehouse Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soonyoung visits Seungkwan at his new part-time job at coffeehouse The Grind and he needs a favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand then my writing vibe left me >.< Trying to get it back!

Seungkwan tried to flatten out the crease in his apron and clicked his tongue in frustration when he couldn't get it. It hadn't been very long since he and Mingyu had started working at Coffeehouse _The Grind_ and he still got a bit nervous at the beginning of his shifts. Remembering all the different items on the menu and how to make them was hard and his boss seemed to have a third eye just for details. However, it was also a lot of fun working at the coffeegouse. Being surrounded by the smell of coffee was a big plus, customers, by and large, were nice, and he got along well with his co-workers. He got on especially well with the guy he opened with today and who was walking over to help him with his apron related crisis.

“Here let me do it.” His co-worker started slapping Seungkwan's apron in an attempt to make it better, but it wasn't a very effective strategy.

“Mingi, it's fine. Stop slapping me!” Seungkwan laughed. The boy was a few years older, but Seungkwan just wanted to pinch his cheeks and tell him how cute he was. His name was Choi Mingi and he was both funny and adorable. They stopped their giggling when Cha Hakyeon emerged from his office.

“If you boys are done violently harassing the uniform, I'm opening up. I'll be in my office finishing this week's order, so you'll know where to find me if things get too busy.”

“OK, Mr. Cha.”

“I've told you, you can just call me Hakyeon, Seungkwan.”

“Mr. Hakyeon?”

“If you want.” His boss chuckled.

The shift had been going fine and Seungkwan was just wiping down some tables when a familiar, yet unexpected, face walked through the door.

“Hey, Soonyoung. What are you doing here? Are you by yourself?” He would have expected him to be with Seokmin or Chan at least. This place wasn't at all close to his college and even though the coffee here was good, it wasn't worth it to make the journey just for that. He looked behind him, but it really was just him.

“Seungkwan, I need your help.” The man said staring straight into his eyes.

“Eh, okay? Is everything all right?”

“No. But hopefully it will be, but I-” He stopped talking and looked around, eying the other customers. “Let's talk somewhere more private.” He grabbed Seungkwan by the arm and dragged him behind the counter and to the back.

“W-what are you doing? You're not supposed to come back here!”

“Seungkwan, please! I've been an idiot setting Seokmin up on all those dates! I want to confess to him. Tonight.”

That made Seungkwan forget about the fact that he might get in trouble for letting a customer back here. “Wow. Really?”

“Yes. But I can't just say ' _oh, actually, I like you, please be my boyfriend'_. It has to be better than that, because he needs to forgive me for taking so long to realize it.”

“I wouldn't worry too much about that. But what do you need my help for? I've never confessed to anyone.”

“I need the coffeehouse.”

“What do you mean you need the coffeehouse?”

Suddenly Soonyoung swung his arm over Seungkwan's shoulder and ran his hand through the air. “Picture this. I bring him here after closing hours, saying that his date is waiting for him inside. Then-”

“What is going on here?”

His boss' voice made Seungkwan spin around with big eyes. “I-I'm sorry, Mr. Ch- Hakyeon. I know we're not supposed to let anyone back here, but this is my friend and he has this crazy idea of confessing to someone in here after we close tonight, but of course I-”

“A confession of love? Right here? In my coffee shop?” Hakyeon's eyes started to sparkle and he grabbed hold of Seungkwan's arm. “We should decorate the place with little lights and throw a nice table cloth over one of the tables to make it more romantic.”

“Y-you're okay with it?”

The tall man sighed dramatically and cupped his left cheek with his hand, looking at the two young men with a pained expression. “I've recently broken up with someone and I need to be in the presence of young love so I don't become a bitter old man. Unless...” He pulled Seungkwan aside and whispered in his ear. “Do you think his confession will fail?”

“I'm pretty sure it will be a grand success. Honestly, I don't understand why they're not together already.” He whispered back.

“Oh! Then we must definitely do it here.” He walked over to Soonyoung and held out his hand. “Cha Hakyeon, owner. Why don't you step into my office and we can discuss the details. Seungkwan, you're shift is almost over isn't it? Do you have time to help us after your afternoon classes?” He looked at Soonyoung again. “You did say tonight, right?”

“Yes, sir.” He replied with a big grin. “I don't think I can wait another day.”

“Wonderful.” Hakyeon smiled. “So, Seungkwan. We'll see you later.” And with that he took Soonyoung with him to his office, leaving Seungkwan slightly baffled by how this all played out.

{That evening}

Seeing as Mingyu had been on the closing shift anyway it hadn't been hard to get him to help out as well. Seungkwan had to admit his friend had a good sense for setting up a scene. Illumination was provided by candles and fairy lights giving it an instant romance boost. There was a knock on the window and Seungkwan turned around to see a pizza delivery guy.

“Oh great, just in time. I have to leave to meet him in like five minutes.” Soonyoung said as he hurried to pay the man and take the boxes from him. He shut the door with his foot and put the food on the table.

“Your big romantic meal is pizza?”

“What? He _loves_ pizza.”

“That's true.” Seungkwan admitted. “So, I think we're about set?”

Soonyoung placed his hands on his hips and nodded slowly as he took in their handiwork. “All that's left is to actually tell him how I feel.”

Hakyeon placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Soonyoung took a deep breath and looked at the other three men in the room. “Okay. I'm going to go meet him. Seungkwan, you'll open the door when we get back here?”

“Yes, yes and after I've let you in I'll hide in the back together with Mingyu and Mr. Hakyeon. Just go already!”

***

"Wow. What's all this?" Seokmin's eyes widened as he stepped inside and saw the decorated table.

"Your date made it for you. Well, not _made_ made, like, he didn't _make_ the pizza, but-"

Seungkwan cleared his throat to stop Soonyoung from nervously rambling on. “Here is your table and I'll leave you to it.”

"Where is he anyway? My date?" Seokmin asked looking around cautiously as if whoever his date was could jump out at any second.

“Well...” Soonyoung stepped forward and stood in front of the table with his eyes on Seokmin. “He's actually already here.”

“Is he hiding?”

“N-no. He's _here_.” He added motion to his words with his hands, but things didn't seem to click in the other man's head just yet.

“I don't get it.”

"...Okay. This is not really going as I thought it was going to go, but anyway...your date, well, you're looking at him."

"I still don't get it."

"It's me, Seok. I'm the date."

" _You're_ my date? Like a friend date, or what?"

Soonyoung ran a hand through his hair and let out an awkward chuckle. "Shit. Don't tell me I've misread all the signals and you don't actually like me back." He looked at Seokmin and shook his head with a shy smile. “No. I don't mean like a friend date.”

“Oh.” Seokmin let out a shaky breath.

“Listen, Seokmin. I was so focused on finding you a good date that I completely missed the fact that the best date for you is, well, me. N-not to mean that I'm like the best person ever! I mean that _you_ are the best date for me, too and I like you and I think we'd be really great together. What do you think?”

Seokmin's face broke open into the widest smile Seungkwan had ever seen and he felt that even without the lights the room would be bright.

Mingyu was holding himself back from walking onto the scene to get a better shot of the way those two were now holding each other's faces and staring into each other's eyes with dumb grins. “I'll save this for when they get married.” Mingyu whispered as he continued to film everything.

“Getting a bit ahead of yourself there are we?” Seungkwan smiled looking at the two of them sitting down to eat (and continuously giggle at each other) and exhaled slowly. He pulled out his phone and zoomed in to get a decent shot. He sent it to Hansol with a winky face and the promise to tell him all about it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Seokmin finally got a boyfriend again! w00p  
> -I have to admit I don't know Mingi (Ren from Nuest) that well, but I know he and Seungkwan are very good friends, so I though it'd be nice if he made an appearance. 
> 
> Next time Seungkwan is really starting to feel the strain of long-distance on his relationship


	83. C1-7 Package of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan is feeling frustrated with the way his relationship with Hansol is going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have not been writing as much as I would have liked, but I'll try to keep them coming! Oh and Happy New Year!

Seungkwan was impatiently tapping his fingers on his desk. Hansol was late and not for the first time. He picked up his phone again and resisted the urge to send him another message asking him where he was. He scoffed when their chat popped up on his desktop with a new message.

_Hey, home now. You still wanna talk?_

“Yeah, I still want to talk, idiot.” Seungkwan mumbled begrudgingly and he clicked the video call button. “Well, how nice of you to show up.”

“Eh, what?” Hansol chuckled, not yet catching on just how pissed off his boyfriend was.

“You said we'd call at eleven. It's almost twelve, Hansol.”

“Oh, sorry. But what I said was that I would _probably_ have time.”

“Okay, well, if you say you'll _probably_ have time I assume that it means you'll have time unless you let me know otherwise! You should have told me you were going to be late.”

“Maybe you shouldn't assume things.” Hansol mumbled.

“I left Jisoo's room early for this, you know? Everybody else is still hanging out there, having fun, while I'm here waiting for you to finally have time for me.”

Hansol groaned. “You shouldn't do that. If you want to hang out with them tonight, do that. Or just go up to your room when I call. Why do we always have to be so scheduled?”

“Because it's hard to find times to talk sometimes, Hansol. I just want to talk to you. If we don't plan these things, before you know it we hardly ever talk and-”

“Come on, that's not true. I want to talk to you too, but you're making it feel like a task or an obligation or something. Like tonight, some of the guys from soccer asked if I wanted to go get a drink with them and I wanted to so I did. It shouldn't have to be such a big deal.”

“Do they know you have a boyfriend?”

“I don't see how that's relevant, but yes, they know.”

“It's relevant because- Because they can be a bit more sympathetic when you say you can't hang out sometimes because you want to-”

“I _wanted_ to hang out with them and I think that should be okay. I don't know what's going on with you. Are you jealous that I have new friends or something?”

Seungkwan scoffed, but he didn't refute it. If he was being honest, lately whenever Hansol told him about his day or stories about the people he hung out with Seungkwan felt more and more disconnected. He didn't know any of these people. He didn't have faces to go with the names and even those he had seen in pictures rubbed him the wrong way. It's not that he wanted Hansol to be alone and not make friends, but it made Seungkwan realize that there was a growing part of Hansol's life that he wasn't a part of and it scared him.

“Next time when I say I might have time I'll let you know if something comes up, okay?”

What Seungkwan really wanted was for Hansol to say that he'd be there. He knew he was being petty and possessive and he didn't like it himself either, so instead of saying that, he agreed with a soft okay.

“Okay, so, are we good again? Anything new with you?”

{A few days later}

“Do you think I can ship this body lotion overseas or is it considered a hazardous item or something?” Seungkwan asked Chan who he was shopping with. It was Saturday and Seungkwan was home for the weekend. It had been a few weeks since he saw his young friend, so it was nice to catch up.

Chan shrugged. “Not sure. Why? Are you sending something to Hansol?”

“Yeah. I'm stupid to do it so close to Christmas and I don't think it'll arrive before then, but lately...we...”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, no, we're fine, I guess. But lately we've been fighting a bit and I've been acting- Well, so has he, it's not all my fault, really. But, anyway, my point is that I want to send him a nice package with nice things so he doesn't forget how much I love him.” He pulled out his phone in search for the rules of international mail and sighed. “Maybe I should ask his mom or something. I'm pretty sure his parents have sent some stuff out to him. Although probably not beauty products.”

“So what else are you going to send him?”

“Well, it's getting pretty cold and I know he gets dry skin and he's always losing his lip balm, so something in that area for one. And maybe some snacks he likes or something. Any suggestions?”

“Boxers.”

“Boxers!?”

“A guy can never have enough boxers. And socks. I know it sounds boring, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Or you can get him something more sexy.”

“I think boxers are sexy.”

“Boxers it is then. He can wear them when you two...you know.”

“How do you know about that!?”

“I didn't. I just assumed.”

“Well, you shouldn't just assume things.”

“So you guys don't...?”

“W-we...That's none of your business!”

Chan chuckled and lightly shoved him. “Why do you always get so shy when we talk about sex?”

“You are a child, Lee Chan!”

“Don't you worry about that. I know my stuff.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Chan just wiggled his eyebrows and laughed his infectious laugh. “Come on, let's find Hansol some hot underwear.”

{Dorm Room}

Seungkwan had dragged all the stuff he bought for Hansol back to his dorm room the next day so he could send it out on Monday. The box was filled to the brim and he sincerely hoped customs wouldn't open it for inspection because he feared they'd never be able to get everything back into it. But his biggest concern was if he could keep his mouth shut until it arrived. He really wanted it to be a surprise and had sworn Chan to secrecy as well. When he had looked up shipping fees online he had cursed his life as a poor college student and had come to the sad conclusion that he had no choice but to go with the cheapest and slowest option. Although he did opt to pay a little more for a tracking code.

With a grunt he picked up the box from his bed and put it on the floor. He was just writing Hansol's address on it when Mingyu came in. He threw his bag on his bed and sat down next to Seungkwan.

“Welcome back. How was your weekend?” Seungkwan asked him without looking up.

Mingyu leaned back on his hands and sighed. “Pretty crappy, actually.”

“Oh?”

“Things were fine at my parents, but I found out that Jungkook, you know that guy I've sort of been seeing? Well, he likes some other guy. He just told me.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” He scooted forward and looked down at the box. “Is this your love package?”

“Ew, don't call it that. Can you help me carry it to the post office tomorrow? It's kind of heavy.”

“Because it's filled with your love?” He teased, but let out a loud 'Hey!' when Seungkwan drew a line across his arm with the marker in his hand. “Is this waterproof? Great. You should be nicer to me if you want me to help you carry it.” He grumbled and got up in search for a tissue.

Seungkwan got up also and took the wet tissue from Mingyu's hand. “I'm sorry. Here, I'll do it.” He started rubbing the mark he had left on his skin. “You'd be happy if your boyfriend sent you a package like that, right? You wouldn't think it was too much? Or something only parents do?”

“Why are you worrying about this? He'll love it.” Sensing his best friend wasn't so sure he gently lifted his chin. “He'll love it. Seriously, if I had a boyfriend who did stuff like that for me I'd be super happy.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -He shouldn't worry. Who doesn't like getting a care package??  
> -Hansol wants to be more relaxed about things, a kind of go with the flow kind of attitude, while Seungkwan wants to know when and at what time they're going to talk. 
> 
> Is it too soon for SeokSoon to go through a rough patch? Well...I'll let you know next chapter


	84. C1-8 Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seokmin is worried that Soonyoung has already lost interest. Hansol and Seungkwan have trouble seeing eye to eye about their issues.

Seungkwan sat on Jihoon's bed and observed as Mingyu applied some light eye make-up to Seokmin's face. Ever since he had acted as Seungkwan's make-up artist for their high school play he had been eager to try it out on more of their friends. “Soonyoung won't be able to take his eyes of you, Minnie.” He said as he stepped back to admire his own work.

Jihoon snorted. “Oh lord, he already has trouble looking anywhere else. How will he walk?”

Seokmin didn't laugh. Quite the opposite. His shoulders slumped down and he looked like he was on the verge of tears.“I think he's going to break up with me.” He said softly.

“What? Why would you even think that?” Seungkwan asked. He had trouble believing that after the confession he witnessed, Soonyoung would be finished with this relationship in just a few weeks.

“I-I don't think he wants to have sex with me. The last time we met he didn't even kiss me. And the last few days he has barely sent me any messages. I think he realized he just wants to be friends.”

“Maybe you should talk to him? It might not be what you think.” Mingyu offered.

“But what if it is...”

“Then it's better to find out sooner rather than later.” Jihoon said and he gently patted his roommate's hair.

“Find out what?” A voice startled all of them. It was Soonyoung, standing in the door opening.

“What are you doing here!?” Seokmin yelled out in shock.

“Ehm, the party at Jisoo's dorm? You said I could come?”

“Oh, right! Yes!”

“So find out what?” Soonyoung could tell from the way everybody looked at him that whatever they had been talking about involved him in some way.

“If you plan to break up with Seokmin.” Jihoon said, earning death glares from both Mingyu and Seungkwan.

“What!? Of course not!” Soonyoung walked into the room with big steps and looked at his boyfriend still sitting on the bed. “What's going on? Did I do something wrong?”

“No! Let's just forget about it. It's nothing.” He chuckled awkwardly and looked at his friends on the opposite bed hoping they would change the subject, but Seungkwan instead gave him a head-jerk encouraging him to talk to his boyfriend about what was going on inside his head. “You don't want to have sex with me.”

“I don't?” Soonyoung seemed genuinely confused and looked around the room to see if anyone had any explanation for him.

“You didn't even kiss me last time...We kissed before, so you must have changed your mind about liking me.”

“You want to know why I didn't kiss you last time or why I didn't make any moves to go further than that?” He sat down next to him on the bed and sighed. “Do you realize that we only do anything after I initiate it? We only go out or meet up after I suggest it. I'm almost always the first one to send a message. The first one to kiss. How do you think that makes me feel? Are you even interested in me or did you just agree to date me because you felt bad for rejecting me?”

Seokmin looked up with big wet eyes. “No! I'm super interested. I want to spend time with you and kiss you and- and more.”

“Then why is it always up to me to start? I didn't kiss you last time because I was waiting for you to kiss me. I'm sorry if it made you think that I changed my mind about us because I definitely haven't.”

Seungkwan, Mingyu and Jihoon where now squeezed together on the bed. Nobody moved, caught between courtesy and curiosity covered by a blanket of support for Seokmin.

“I...” Seokmin bit his lower lip. “I've never made a first move. Not just with you. Just never. I-I'm just always scared that I'll try something and it's something you don't want me to do or that I'm bothering you. I'm scared that if I send you too many messages you'll get annoyed or bored with me...”

Soonyoung jumped up, still his eyes on Seokmin. “I could NEVER get bored of you! Come on, send me a hundred messages in a day. NO! ONE THOUSAND. I DARE YOU!”

“Why is he yelling?” Seungkwan whispered in Mingyu's ear, but got silenced by a hand being pressed on his mouth.

“You could send me a BILLION messages in a day and- well a billion is a lot, I might not be able to read all of them and then it will say 'read' and then you might think I'm ignoring you, but I'M NOT! Because I LOVE YOU DAMMIT!”

“Y-you do?”

“Damn right I do!” He sat back down with calmness completely different from his outburst just now. “Baby, I promise that whenever you are ready to make the first move, I'll follow right up with the second one. I just need to know that it's not all one-sided.”

“How can you say you love me? We've only been together for a few weeks...We haven't even slept together yet...”

Soonyoung smiled and gentle cupped Seokmin's face. “I don't need to sleep with you to know that I love you. I know it's fast and I don't want you to feel pressured to say it back, but I love you.” He dropped his hands onto Seokmin's legs and gave them a soft squeeze. “And when you think about it, it's not _that_ fast. We were already friends and I loved you then too. And about the sex. I've thought about us doing it, a lot, and we're always really good at it, so I'm sure that once we do start having sex it will be amazing.”

Suddenly Seokmin leaped forward and kissed his boyfriend roughly on the mouth. All other mouths in the room fell open.

“He made the first move...” Mingyu said in awe. Seungkwan nodded equally impressed, feeling weirdly proud of his two friends making out right in front of him.

Jihoon leaned in and whispered. “That's really great, but I suggest we get out of here before they start doing it. I think they've forgotten we're here.” A statement that seemed to be true judging by the way Soonyoung was on his back with Seokmin on top of him kissing him like he was starving and his boyfriend was a five-course meal.

When the door was shut the three of them looked at each other silently. “I guess they'll be joining us later.” Mingyu giggled and the other two laughed along with him.

Jihoon eyed the door of his shared room with Seokmin. “They better finish before I get back because he forgot to put a post-it on the door.”

{Party on Jisoo's floor}

Seokmin and Soonyoung arrived only about twenty minutes later and walked over with wide grins to where Seungkwan, Jihoon and Jisoo were standing. Mingyu was busy dancing with someone. Soonyoung pecked his boyfriend on the cheek. “I'll get us some drinks.”

“That was fast.” Jisoo teased. The others had gotten him up to speed about what had happened before they got to the party.

“We didn't have sex, actually.” Seokmin informed them. “Well, not all-the-way sex anyway.”

“Oh, well, that's good I guess?” Seungkwan said, not sure if he wanted to know that much. “As long as you're doing whatever makes both of you happy.”

“I'm just glad he talked to me and didn't break up with me like Jaehyun did. Remember? He also said that one of the things that was wrong with me is that I don't take any initiative.”

“Did he say it like that?” Jihoon asked.

“Well, maybe he didn't say it exactly like that, but that's what he meant, right?” He saw the pained looks on his friends' faces and smiled. “I'll try harder! I know I need to speak my mind more. And be more confident...”

Soonyoung came back and handed Seokmin a drink. “What's up? Why is Seungkwan looking at me like that?”

“You better treat him right! And love him a lot!” He pouted angrily in Soonyoung's direction.

“I-I will? What's this about?”

“Nothing. Thank you for getting me a drink.” Seokmin said and the two of them went back to being clingy and in love in a way that made Seungkwan roll his eyes on the outside, but melt on the inside. Soonyoung had the habit of clinging to Seokmin's arm with both hands and it was kind of adorable.

“Seungkwan, want to dance?” Jihoon asked. “I feel like dancing, but I don't feel like talking someone up.”

“I'm glad to be of service then.”

They hadn't been dancing for long when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was a message from Hansol.

_If you have time I'll be home in about twenty minutes_

Seungkwan thought about it for a moment. Was he about to leave Jihoon without a dancing partner to go talk to his boyfriend?

_I have time_

“Sorry, Hoonie. I'm going to take off.”

“Hansol?”

“Yeah.”

{Dorm room}

“You look nice. Going somewhere?” Hansol asked after their initial greetings.

  
“Actually, I was at a party when I got your message.”

“So you left? Weren't you having a good time?”

“It was alright. I was dancing with Jihoon.”

“So why did you leave?”

Seungkwan shrugged. “You said you had time, so...”

Hansol sighed, uncharacteristically annoyed. “This is exactly what I was talking about the other day. You shouldn't stop doing something fun just to talk to me.”

Seungkwan was getting annoyed himself. “And why not? I _want_ to talk to you. Why do you make it sound like that's a bad thing! Why can't you just be happy that I choose you over some dumb party?”

“Because I don't want to be an excuse for you not to go out and experience new things.”

“New things? What new things? As if Jisoo's floor doesn't throw a party almost every week.” He scoffed. “I know what this is. This isn't about you wanting me to experience new things, this is about _you_. You don't want to put in the time to make this long-distance thing work. I don't know what these 'new things' you want to do are, but I'm sick of you trying to make me feel bad for wanting to spend time with my boyfriend!”

“And I'm tired of you making me feel guilty for having a live that doesn't involve you for every second of the day. Can't you be a bit more flexible?”

Seungkwan didn't reply. He didn't look directly at the screen, busy fighting his tears. Fighting with Hansol was the worst feeling in the world.

On the other end of the call Hansol sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “Seungkwan?” He said to redirect his attention back to him. “Maybe we should take a break.”

“What do you mean? What kind of break?”

“I mean, maybe we should give each other some space for a while.”

Like a reflex Seungkwan hit the button to end the call. Hansol's face disappeared and the video window closed. He stared blankly at their chat. His hands were shaking. His ears were ringing. Hansol tried to call him. He declined.

_Please answer. Let's talk_

Hansol called again. Seungkwan let it ring for a few seconds before he could move to answer. “Okay. Talk then.” He said with great effort to control his voice and tears.

“We've been fighting more and more lately and maybe if we take some time away from each other-”

“We literally live on different continents, Hansol. How much further away from me do you want to get? You just want to go out and do whatever and get my permission to treat me as an afterthought! We're not doing that. So either you just accept that to keep this relationship going we need for both of us to put in the time and effort or- Well, no or. That's just it.”

The quiet in the room was deafening, pressing down harder with each second that neither of them spoke.

“There is an or.” Hansol broke the silence, his voice hoarse.

Seungkwan didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything.

“Maybe, for now, it's better if we-”

“No.” He found his voice. “Don't give me that 'for now' and 'maybe' crap. We're not going to be one of those couples that 'take a break' or 'put a hold' on things. Don't put me in a limbo, Hansol.” He blinked a few times and sucked in a shaky breath. “Please.”

The vulnerability of Seungkwan's broken voice was almost too much for Hansol. He very rarely cried, but he felt tears stinging in his eyes now. “I love you, Seungkwan. I do. So much. But I think it's better for both of us if we're not together right now.”

And then the words Seungkwan had never expected to come out of Hansol's mouth came. “I think we should break up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry don't hate me (but please dump all your emotions in the comments)
> 
> I wrote parts of that talk between SeokSoon so long ago that I don't know if it felt familiar because I used a similar dialogue in a different fic in the meantime or if it was just because I wrote it over a year and a half ago, lol


	85. C1-9 I want to do laundry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu has a feeling Seungkwan needs him and goes to check on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> very quick update~ It's the last day of my vacation though, so not sure how fast the next one will be. :/  
> The title...idek
> 
> quick reminder just in case people forgot: at the same college are Seungkwan, Mingyu, Seokmin, Jihoon, and Jisoo.

Mingyu had been enjoying himself at the party, but when he heard from Jihoon that Seungkwan had left early, again, he checked his phone to see if he'd send him anything. No carrot emoji. He tried sending him a message asking him what he was doing. He had no real reason to think something was going on, but he had a gut feeling that he needed to go check on him. The guy he had been dancing with approached him and wasn't shy about where he put his hands.

“Sorry, maybe next time.” Mingyu answered when he asked him to go up to his room with him. Seungkwan hadn't replied. He hadn't even seen his message. “I have to go check on someone. But I've got your number.”

He opened the door to their room slowly, making sure to not look inside in case Seungkwan really had just forgotten to let him know that he was doing something naked. “Seungkwan? Is it okay for me to come in? You didn't sent me anything and you didn't reply so I wasn't sure if-” He pushed the door open further and approached Seungkwan sitting in his chair. “Can you answer that video call please? The sound is driving me crazy.” Seungkwan didn't say anything. He didn't even move. “Seungkwan?” He placed a hand on his shoulder and Seungkwan flinched like he hadn't been aware of his presence. Mingyu looked between him and the screen where the chat was full of missed calls from Hansol and messages asking him to answer. “Everything okay?”

Seungkwan had been sitting there in a sort of trance, but the voice of his best friend snapped him out of it. He looked up at Mingyu and as soon as he saw his worried eyes he broke. He wrapped his arms around his hips, pressed his face against his stomach, and started sobbing.

Shocked by the sudden outburst Mingyu just stood there gently brushing his hair. When the room was again disrupted by the sound of Hansol attempting to call, Mingyu pried Seungkwan's arms loose and knelt down. “What's going on?” By now Seungkwan was crying so uncontrollably that he was barely able to breathe, let alone talk. Mingyu stood up again and pulled Seungkwan up out of his chair. “Come on. Let's put you on your bed.” He declined the call to stop the ringing.

When they sat down on Seungkwan's bed his phone buzzed from atop the desk.

“Can you-” Seungkwan hiccuped. “Tell him to leave me alone.”

“What did he do?” Mingyu asked, pulled a tissue out the box on the floor next to the bed to wipe away the tears on Seungkwan's face, but they were immediately replaced by new ones.

“Just tell him. Please.” He tried to take a deep breath, but it was hard to do.

Mingyu nodded and went to pick up Seungkwan's phone. He knew the code.

_Please answer_

_Seungkwan_

_I know I hurt you but can we talk?_

_I didn't want it to go like this_

_Seungkwan please_

_Can you answer?_

Whatever was going on it didn't look good. Mingyu typed a response. _He says to leave him alone_

Almost instantly a reply came. _Who is this? Mingyu?_

Mingyu felt his own phone buzz in his back pocket.

**Sol:** _Please_ _tell him to talk to me. Let me explain better_

“He says that you should let him explain better?”

“You can tell him...” Seungkwan said between sobs. “...If he still thinks we should be broken up that I have nothing to say to him and I don't want to hear what he has to say either.”

“What?” Mingyu said softly. “He- He broke up with you?” He stared at his best friend, a crying mess sitting at the edge of his bed, not understanding. He understood this even less than when Wonwoo had broken up with him. He replied to Hansol. _He doesn't want to talk to you._ _He won't be contacting you tonight so stop._ He could see Hansol was already typing a reply, but he muted the chat and closed it. He did the same on Seungkwan's phone and he turned his laptop off. He sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around him. Seungkwan snaked his arms around his waist and continued to cry.

“You said we'd be fine.” Seungkwan whispered hoarsely against Mingyu's chest after his crying had calmed down a bit. “At the sleepover, when I was worried, you said me and Hansol would be fine.”

“I-” He had thought they would be. “I'm sorry.” Was all he could think to say. “I'll get you some water.” He tried to get up, but the arms clinging to him refused to let go.

{the next morning}

Eventually they had fallen asleep together on Seungkwan's bed, but when Mingyu woke up the other wasn't there. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around the room. Empty. He was just about to get his phone when the door opened and Seungkwan walked in fresh from the shower by the look of it.

“Oh good, you're awake. You'd better hurry. Don't you have a class soon?”

“I can skip it.” Mingyu said. He followed Seungkwan around the room with his eyes.

“Why would you do that?” Seungkwan asked as he pulled the bag he used for laundry out from under his bed.

“B-because...Are you okay?”

“I'm going to do laundry. I've been putting it off.” He answered, ignoring the question. “Do you have anything that needs washing?”

“Eh, that's okay.” Mingyu stood up and watched as Seungkwan started to gather his dirty clothes. “Seungkwan?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?” He asked again.

Seungkwan stiffened for a moment before he bent down to pick up a shirt. He stood up straight and looked at Mingyu with his brows furrowed together. “Give me your shirt.”

“Sorry?”

“It looks like it could use some cleaning. Give it.” With two big steps he walked over and started pulling on Mingyu's shirt.

“S-seungkwan, what the f-”

“Just give it!” They struggled for a moment, but he managed to take the shirt from him. “Give me the rest of your laundry too.”

“Seungkwan, what the hell? Who cares about laundry right now!? Don't you want to talk about-”

“No! I do not.” Seungkwan angrily threw down the bag of laundry on his bed. “I want to do laundry. Now are you going to give me the rest of your stuff or not?”

Mingyu could tell Seungkwan was trying really hard to keep it together. Maybe this was what he needed. Something to distract himself with. “Okay. Fine. I'll give you my laundry, but how about we do it together?”

“You need to get to class.”

“I can skip it.”

“Mingyu, I know what you're trying to do but I- I just want to be alone right now and do laundry.” With a slower pace than before he stuffed clothes into the bag.

“Okay.” Mingyu conceded. “But after my classes I'm buying all the snacks in the world and we're hanging out or do whatever you want to do.”

Seungkwan nodded without looking at him. “Be sure to get some string cheese. I feel like eating some of that.”

“You got it. I can go get some right now if you-”

“No, that's okay. Later is fine.” He picked up the heavy bag of dirty laundry with both arms and headed for the door. “Mingyu?” He said before walking out. “Can you please not tell anyone about last night? Not yet.”

“Sure.”

{later}

Mingyu came back to their room carrying two shopping bags filled with food and some other stuff he thought Seungkwan might want. He was surprised to see that Seungkwan was putting on his running shoes. “Where are you going?” He asked.

“I'm going jogging!”

“But I have food and those beauty masks with animal faces on them that look kind of creepy that make you laugh.”

“We can do that later. I just suddenly have all this energy.”

“I'll go with you. It's already getting dark.”

“No that's okay. I won't be long.”

“But-”

“See you in a bit.”

Mingyu waited. He felt so useless. Seungkwan hadn't even told him what exactly happened yet, but he wasn't going to ask Hansol. The last message from him asked if he could ask Seungkwan to call him when he could. He checked the clock. What time had Seungkwan gone out? It must have been well over half an hour ago. He waited. An hour. It was fully dark now. He was getting more worried with each minute so he sent him a message to put his mind at ease. _Coming home soon? I don't like you running alone in the dark..._ _and I'm getting hungry_

There was a buzz from Seungkwan's bed. “That idiot.” Mingyu said under his breath as he picked up Seungkwan's phone. He opened the group chat with the others at their college. _Guys have you seen Seungkwan recently? Like in the past hour or so?_

**Minnie:** _No why?_

**Gyu:** _He went jogging without his phone and he's not back yet_

**Jisoo:** _How long has he been gone?_

**Gyu:** _More than_ _an hour_

He hesitated before typing the next message. He had promised not to tell anyone yet, but he had a bad feeling and he needed to find him.

**Gyu:** _Hansol broke up with him last night and he's been acting_ _like he's fine but he clearly_ _i_ _sn't._ _.I'm worried_

Jihoon's contact popped up right away and he answered the call. “ _Where does he usually go jogging? You go there and me, Seok and Jisoo will look around other places he might be. We'll find him._ ”

“Okay.” Mingyu started putting on his coat. “I don't think he'd hurt himself or anything, but it's not like him to just disappear. Maybe he just forgot his phone and lost track of time, but he always listens to music and-”

“ _Mingyu. We'll find him._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I just want to make clear that even though this is a bit of a cliffhanger I assure you he didn't hurt himself/try to hurt himself! And they will find him soon.  
> -Mingyu's best friend's senses were tingling   
> -comment for emotional support T^T (just because I wrote it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt...why do I love writing angst)


	86. C1-10 Cold as Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They set out to find Seungkwan, but when they find him their worries aren't over yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick update because I didn't want to leave everybody hanging!

Seungkwan hadn't actually gone out to go jogging all that much since they started college and the only place Mingyu could think of that he went to was a big park just off campus. While Jihoon and Jisoo were going around different places on and around the dorms, he and Seokmin headed for the park.

“You go left, I'll take the right. It's faster if we split up.” Mingyu said at the entrance and they each went in opposite directions. There were few people in the park around this time. It was cold tonight. His heart was pounding as he walked at a brisk pace. Even if he was here he must be exhausted if he had been jogging all this time. He cursed himself for leaving in a rush and not bringing an extra coat or something.

He was almost at the other end of the park when he saw a figure sitting on a bench. His hands were gripped around the edge of the seat and his head and shoulders were slumped down, but he knew who it was. He ran over and knelt down. “Seungkwan?” There was no response and when Mingyu reached out to gently touch his hand his heart stopped. He was as cold as ice. He took off his coat and draped it over Seungkwan's shoulders before he called the others. “I found him. He's super cold and he hasn't said anything. Seok? Can you hurry over here. I'm at the back of the park. I think you'll see us if you just follow the path.”

He knelt down again and took one of Seungkwan's hands. He rubbed it in his own and blew air on it in an attempt to warm him up a bit. “Come on, Kwannie. Snap out of it.” He looked around anxiously for Seokmin. The moment he saw him running towards them he stood up. “I want to carry him back to our room, but I don't want to drop him. Can you help him get on my back?”

“Yeah. Of course.” He reached out for Seungkwan and, like Mingyu had been, was shocked by how cold he was. Mingyu waited for Seokmin to coach Seungkwan onto his back. He felt his arms hang loosely over his shoulders, drained from power, but as they walked Seungkwan weakly wrapped his arms around his neck.

On arrival they were greeted by worried Jihoon and Jisoo. Mingyu let out a low grunt when he lowered Seungkwan onto his bed. “I think he went jogging first like he said. His clothes are still damp with sweat.” He stood up and marched over to Seungkwan's closet. “We have to get him into something warmer.” He pulled out some pajamas and got back to the bed. Seungkwan had started shivering.

“Isn't it better to get him in the shower?” Jihoon asked.

Mingyu ran a stressed hand through his hair. “I don't know. I think I heard once that it can be dangerous to warm up the body too fast. The difference in temperature might be too much of a shock to the system or something.”

Jisoo looked up from his phone. He had been looking up information. “You're right. Although it says here that showers are okay under supervision if it's only mild hypothermia, but it seems that warming with blankets and warm drinks is good too and some say it's always better that way.”

“Maybe we should take him to-” Seokmin started.

“I'll change his clothes. Can you guys find some extra blankets and a hot-water bottle or something? And something warm he can drink.” Mingyu directed.

{the next morning}

Seungkwan opened his eyes, but closed them again. His lids felt heavy just like the rest of his body. He tried to remember yesterday. He remembered going jogging. He remembered breaking down in tears in the middle of the park. He remembered feeling empty. After that his memories were vague. Somebody or perhaps more than one person, talking to him, a warm body against his cold one, voices around him, slowly starting to feel a bit warmer. He tried opening his eyes again and groaned when he tried to move. He became aware of a warmth in his hand. He looked down and saw it was Mingyu's hand holding onto him. He was sitting on the floor with his head and arms on Seungkwan's bed, holding his hand and breathing slowly. Over on Mingyu's bed Jihoon, Jisoo, and Seokmin were all sleeping together in a pile. Seungkwan made another attempt at moving, wanting to sit up, and another grunt escaped him. Everything was sore, the taste in his mouth unpleasant, and he felt like he had a fever.

Mingyu's head jerked up at the movement. His eyes went wide when he realized Seungkwan was awake. “Ah shit, I fell asleep.” He cursed. He got to his feet and reached out to feel Seungkwan's forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“I-” Seungkwan started, but his voice was hoarse and he wasn't really sure how he was feeling. “I have to pee.”

Mingyu nodded and reached out to help Seungkwan up. “I can do it myself.” He mumbled.

“Okay. Let me help anyway.” He walked him to the toilet in silence. Seungkwan stood next to the bowl and waited for Mingyu to leave. Except he didn't.

“Are you planning to watch me pee?” He gave his best friend a weak push against the arm. “Go away.”

“Sit down while you pee.”

“Just let me pee in peace, Kim Mingyu...”

“I mean it, Seungkwan. I won't leave otherwise. I don't want you passing out or something.”

Seungkwan didn't have the strength for this today. So he just nodded. He also didn't object when Mingyu stayed with him to take a shower. Maybe it was better. The warm water made him feel good at first, but it didn't take long for his head to feel fuzzy. He leaned his head against Mingyu's wet arm.

“You definitely have a fever. You're going back to bed.”

At this point Seungkwan had completely surrendered to Mingyu's caring tendencies and even let him dry him off.

“What were you thinking.” He heard Mingyu mumble. “Going out jogging in the cold and then- What if we hadn't gone looking for you?” He wasn't expecting an answer, Seungkwan knew. He didn't have one anyway. He hadn't been thinking.

When they got back to their room the others were awake. Seungkwan crawled back under the covers without looking over at his friends. He wasn't sure what to say. He felt embarrassed.

“How are you feeling?” Seokmin asked.

“Do you want something to eat?” Jihoon asked.

Seungkwan shook his head.

“You should try to eat something.” Jisoo said. “Something light. I'll tell Hannie to find some soup or something somewhere. He'll probably be here soon.”

At this Seungkwan turned his head to the side enough to look at them. “Why?”

Jisoo smiled and walked over to his bed. He patted Seungkwan's hair. “Because he was worried sick. I told him he didn't have to come, but I'll bet you anything that he's already on his way.”

“Does everybody know?” Seungkwan asked with a small voice. He pulled the covers further up.

“I'm not sure. Mingyu told us three last night when you didn't come home.” He looked up at Mingyu. “I guess you also told Jeonghan?”

Mingyu shook his head. “No. Just you three. Didn't you tell him?”

Jisoo also shook his head.

“It was me.” Jihoon said from behind them. He looked at Seungkwan with an apologetic look on his face. “Last night after we found you I-We have this rooftop groupchat and I wasn't thinking about Chan and Jeonghan also being in that chat and I wanted to hear from Hansol if it was really true that you two broke up.”

“Oh...” Was all the reaction Seungkwan gave.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.” Seungkwan replied. “Did you- Tell him about this?”

“No. I just asked him, but after that I didn't tell him anything.”

Mingyu stepped forward and placed a warm hand on the top of Seungkwan's head. “All right, I think it's time for Seungkwan to get some rest now, guys. He still has a fever and-”

There was a knock on the door and Jeonghan entered. He made a beeline for the bed and replaced Jisoo by Seungkwan's side. He didn't ask him any questions. He just smiled at him softly and briefly rubbed his cheek. “My poor baby. I brought you some nice soup. Try to eat at least a little of it, okay?”

Seungkwan nodded. He didn't want to argue with him.

Jeonghan took the soup he had bought out of its bag and held it out to Mingyu. “Here. You're the Seungkwan feeder around here. After that you should sleep. You look like hell.”

Mingyu took the soup from him with a scowl on his face. “Thanks.” He was quite exhausted. He had tried to stay awake for most of the night to keep an eye on Seungkwan's condition and barely slept. But he could manage staying awake for a little bit longer to make sure he was well taken care of.

Jeonghan stood up from the bed to make room for Mingyu and greeted the others. He convinced them all to leave, figuring Seungkwan didn't need such an audience for him to get spoon-fed.

Seungkwan didn't have much of an appetite and after a few bites refused to open his mouth again. Mingyu sighed but didn't try to get him to eat more. He put the half-empty container on the desk and let out a big yawn. “Kwannie, go to sleep. You should rest.”

Jeonghan couldn't agree more. He lifted a corner of Seungkwan's covers. “Do you mind? He asked and joined him in the bed.

Seungkwan didn't mind. In fact, he got a little closer to Jeonghan's warmth and buried his face in his chest. He smelled nice. Jeonghan always smelled nice and made Seungkwan feel loved. He drifted off to sleep.

He had no idea what time it was when he woke up again. Jeonghan was still next to him, holding him in his arms. His head was groggy, but he felt better than before.

“Are you awake?” Jeonghan asked him and he stroked Seungkwan's hair out of his eyes.

Seungkwan looked up at him. “I'm sorry you wasted your day with me.”

Jeonghan smiled at him. “I didn't waste my day. I got to do two things that I love. Sleeping and spending time with you. You are one of my favorite people on the entire planet, Seungkwan.” He lightly booped his nose. He unwrapped his arms from around him and got out of the bed. Mingyu was still asleep. “How are you feeling? Do you think you can eat something?”

Seungkwan's stomach answered for him with a growl. Jeonghan chuckled. “I'll go buy something. Any requests?”

“Nothing too heavy.” Seungkwan answered. When Jeonghan was gone Seungkwan scooted to the edge of the bed and he stared at Mingyu across the room. He got up and waggled over. He sat down and stared at his sleeping face. He found his hand and held it in his lap. “Thank you.” He whispered. “You're always there when I need you.”

Mingyu's eyes fluttered open. “Hey.” He said. “What are you doing up?” He sat up and stared at him with sleepy eyes. “Did you say something? Just now?”

Seungkwan played with Mingyu's fingers still in his hand. “I was just saying that maybe next time you fall asleep on my bed you don't drool all over it.” He hoped that by showing he felt good enough to joke around, Mingyu would loose that terrible look of worry on his face. He had sort of been expecting some kind of rebuttal but it remained quiet. He looked up and instead of the glare he thought would meet him he saw Mingyu staring at him on the verge of tears. “W-why are you crying? I'm sorry. I'm really grateful you drooled on my bed.”

Mingyu suddenly grabbed him into a tight embrace and inhaled sharply. “Idiot. I'm just glad you're okay. You forgot your phone and you didn't come back and you were so cold and- Don't ever do that again.” He sniffed against his shoulder.

“I'm sorry.” Seungkwan said, wrapping his arms around him. “I didn't mean to worry you. I just...had a bit of a meltdown.”

They broke their hug when the door opened again and Jeonghan returned. “Say Seungkwan, I was thinking. Do you want to spend a few nights at my place? I'll kick Seungcheol out for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -weird cut off but I didn't know how else to end it, lol. Basically this means Seungkwan will go to Jeonghan for a few days (maybe he'll run into Wonwoo??)  
> -just FYI, I did look up how to treat hypothermia, but not in a lot of detail and also I am clearly not a doctor or anything so excuse me if some stuff is incorrect  
> -The break-up is really hitting him hard, I (Jeonghan) figured it might be good for him to not spend the next few days in the room where he was dumped basically


	87. C1-11 A reconciliation of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan goes to spend a few days with Jeonghan (and Seungcheol). An unexpected reconciliation of sorts takes place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get your hopes up, reconciliation is not between Seungkwan and Hansol :(

Although Mingyu had seemed less than keen on the idea of him traveling to Jeonghan's dorm and staying there for a few days, Seungkwan couldn't handle the idea of staying in his own room all day. He had considered just going to class as usual, but that sounded even less like something that would make him feel better. So he let his professors know he was sick and he got someone to cover his shift at The Grind for tomorrow.

“You're not really going to kick Seungcheol out, are you?” Seungkwan asked in the elevator up to Jeonghan's floor.

“If you feel better if it's just the two of us then I will. Or if you want to sleep in his bed.”

“That's okay. It might be nice to be around someone who didn't see what a mess I was yesterday. Or for most of today. I can just sleep on the floor or in bed with you if that's all right?”

“Whatever you want. And don't be so hard on yourself. You're going through something really hard right now. You're allowed to be a bit of a mess.”

“Thanks.” Seungkwan searched for Jeonghan's hand.

“I think Mingyu is mad at me by the way.” Jeonghan chuckled as he tangled their fingers together.

“Why would he be mad at you?” Seungkwan asked.

“For taking you away.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “He's not my mother.” He let out a sudden groan.

“What's wrong?”

“I'm going to have to tell my mother. What about his family? Did he tell them yet? What if they contact me? Should I say something? What-”

“Kwannie, baby, calm down.” Jeonghan stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. “Try not to worry about that right now.” The doors of the elevator opened and they walked to the room. Seungkwan put his bag down with a groan and got on Jeonghan's bed, hugging the pillow to his chest. “Where's Seungcheol?”

“Not sure.” Jeonghan replied settling down next to him. “He's been going to the gym lately, so probably there. Maybe when he gets back we can all watch a movie together or play some games or-”

“Has he said anything?” Seungkwan interrupted. Jeonghan understood he wasn't asking about Seungcheol. “Jihoon told us about the groupchat you guys have...”

“No.” Jeonghan answered. “It's been kind of dead in there since his last message. I think nobody knows what to say right now.” He sighed. “I don't get him, Kwannie.”

“I thought I got him. But clearly I was wrong. I know things haven't been perfect but-” He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “It doesn't even feel real yet. A part of me keeps thinking that it's a fucked up dream that I have to tell him about so we can laugh together. And then I have to realize all over again that it is real.” He leaned his head down on Jeonghan's shoulder. He didn't want him to see that he was crying again. “Can we go do something? I need to do something.”

“I'm sorry baby, but no can do. You had a fever today.”

“Right, _had_. It's gone now. I feel much better.”

“Well, _I'd_ feel much better if we stay in tonight. But tomorrow we can go out. We'll have lunch somewhere, I'll show you around some places in town that I like. And at night we can go visit Soonyoung at work. Get a drink, sing some karaoke. That might be fun, right?”

Seungkwan shrugged. It was probably better. His muscles still ached and despite having slept for a large part of the day he didn't think he'd be able to stay awake until late.

“If we take Seungcheol with us I'm sure we can get him to pay for us.”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that.” The man in question said as he entered the room. “Hey, Seungkwan. What are you doing here?” He asked and sat down in his desk chair.

“Oh, ehm...”

“Cheollie, Seungkwan is going to stay with us for a few days.”

“Is everything okay? You left so early this morning.” Not to mention Seungkwan's red puffy eyes.

“I just suddenly had this urge to-”

“It's okay.” Seungkwan stopped him. He looked at Seungcheol and was touched by the worried look on his face. “Hansol broke up with me.” The words sounded strange coming from his mouth.

“Oh shit.” Seungcheol got up, walked over to the bed and held out his arms. “Do you want a hug?”

Seungkwan really did. So he nodded and let himself be engulfed by his strong arms. What was one more person to see him cry today anyway?

Later that night when the other two had fallen asleep, Seungkwan checked the messages on his phone. He smiled looking at all the cute and funny dog pictures Chan had sent him without saying a word about the break-up. Mingyu had sent half a dozen messages that he typed a quick reply to. Nothing from Hansol. He stared at the last messages he had sent. All asking him to talk to him, saying that he didn't want it to end like this. Nothing new since Mingyu had stepped in and told him to stop it. Seungkwan was grateful that he had listened, because he didn't want to talk to Hansol just to hear his stupid reasons. “ _He doesn't want it to end like this_?” Seungkwan thought. “ _I didn't want it to end at all._ ” Seungkwan put his phone away on turned on his other side looking for Jeonghan's warmth.

{The next day, evening}

For most of the day Jeonghan and Seungcheol had managed to keep Seungkwan distracted and by the evening he started to feel like he could breathe again. Throughout the day he had kept Mingyu updated on his activities, both because he knew he was still worried and because he kind of missed him. He knew he'd probably come if he asked, but Seungkwan didn't want him to miss anymore classes because of him.

After dinner they headed over to the bar where Soonyoung worked. If he knew about the break-up he didn't let on and greeted them with his usual smile. It was pleasantly crowded and the air filled with music. Seungkwan liked this place. He smiled looking at Seungcheol and Jeonghan singing a song together and started to think about what he wanted to sing later. Both the smile and the thoughts in his head fell when he spotted a familiar face on the other side of the bar. Wonwoo. Their eyes met and both seemed unsure on how to proceed. Wonwoo looked like he took a deep breath before he walked over to his table. “Hey.” He said, slightly awkward.

“Hey.” Seungkwan said back, with equal awkwardness.

“Do you mind if I sit?”

Seungkwan wasn't sure if he minded, but he gestured to one of the empty chairs and Wonwoo sat down.

“Long time no see.” Wonwoo offered him a small smile.

“Yeah.” He took in his old friend's face. He looked the same but different.

“Crazy about Soon and Seokmin, right? I heard the confession was quite a thing.” Wonwoo tried to break away some of the ice that had frozen around their friendship.

“It sure was.” Seungkwan chuckled. “Mingyu got it all on video.” Seungkwan took a sip from his drink in the silence that followed.

“How is- Is he good?” Wonwoo asked hesitantly, not sure if he was allowed to ask.

Seungkwan nodded. “Yeah. We're roommates, actually. He just keeps getting more handsome. Bastard.” Seungkwan joked and Wonwoo laughed a little.

“I bet.” He took a sip from his beer. “How about you? How's college been treating you?”

“Fine. I like most of my classes and I have some great professors. Not a big fan of deadlines, but I guess that's college for you.” With the way Wonwoo was looking at him he started to wonder if Seokmin had told Soonyoung about his break-up with Hansol and if Soonyoung had told Wonwoo.

“You're studying early childhood education, right?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Oh, Jeonghan told me actually.”

“Jeonghan? I didn't know you guys talked about stuff.” In fact, he had been somewhat under the impression Wonwoo wasn't really talking with anyone from high school.

“We don't talk all that much, really. But with Soonyoung being my roommate and me going to the gym with Seungcheol-”

“You go to the gym!?”

Wonwoo laughed at Seungkwan's surprised reaction. “Who would have thought, right? I'm not the same scrawny kid I was in high school, you know. I have actual muscles now.” As a joke he flexed his arm and without thinking if it was weird Seungkwan reached out and gave it a squeeze.

“Damn, you must go to the gym a lot.”

They both laughed but when the laughter died down Wonwoo's face turned serious. “Seungkwan, listen. You might not want to talk to me about it and that's fine, but I heard about you and Hansol from Soon today and I-I don't know...I didn't know you'd be here tonight, but when I saw you I just wanted to ask how you are, I guess. I know we lost touch after I broke up with Mingyu and I totally get that. You're his best friend and I-” He looked at Seungkwan with sad eyes. “I've missed you, Seungkwan. Again, I totally understand if you don't want to talk to me, but I just couldn't believe that Hansol is such an idiot.”

“Now you know how I felt when you dumped Mingyu.”

Wonwoo pressed his lips together in a thin line and nodded.

“I'm kidding.” Seungkwan said. “Well, not really. I did think you were a big idiot for dumping him. At a party no less. But, you know what? He's over it. He's been with other people. I don't think he's angry at you anymore either. He's fine. And that's good because I have to believe that I will be fine at some point as well.” He sighed. “Although right now I feel like total shit and I can't even imagine it.”

“Do you want to go dye your hair?” Wonwoo suddenly suggested. “It's what I did after me and Mingyu.”

“But you broke up with him.”

“I did. But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It did. A lot.”

“Do you ever regret it?”

“I missed him. I guess sometimes I still do. I had hoped that we could be friends again at some point. I also hate that I hurt him. But, no, I don't think I ever regretted it. It was the right decision.” He saw the pained look on the other's face. “But, hey, listen. Me and Mingyu were not you and Hansol. I don't know what exactly happened between you two or what the future holds, but I can guarantee you that Hansol is feeling like shit about this too.”

Seungkwan exhaled and let his eyes drift off for a moment. “Not sure if that makes it better or worse.”

“Time will make it better. I promise.”

Seungkwan took a deep breath. “Anyway, enough about me and about you and Mingyu. I hear you have a new boyfriend?” It wasn't a big leap in topic, but, if he was being honest, he was interested.

“Oh, eh, yeah I do.”

“What's he like?”

“Weird. In a good way. He makes me laugh and he's sweet. A fellow cat-person, too.”

“Is he here?” Seungkwan asked, looking around as if Wonwoo's description was enough to help him spot him.

“Not yet, but he'll come by later. Do you, eh, want to meet him?”

“Sure- No, actually. I'm sorry. I'd just feel weird suddenly hanging out with you and your new boyfriend. No offense.”

“None taken. I'll let you get back to your night with those two.” He looked up at Seungcheol and Jeonghan walking back to their table. “It was nice talking to you, Seungkwan. Even if the topic wasn't very cheerful.” He hesitated, but added. “If you want to keep in touch or something...Jeonghan has my number. And Soonyoung of course. And Seungcheol. I get it if you don't-”

“I'd like that.” Seungkwan said. “I will tell Mingyu about it though. I don't want to go behind his back.”

Wonwoo smiled. “I didn't expect anything less.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -It's not that Seungkwan didn't want to meet Wonwoo's new boyfriend, but he felt a bit weird about it. He and Wonwoo haven't talked in over a year, so it's maybe better to take it slow (and he wants to talk to Mingyu first)  
> -Remember that package Seungkwan sent? It's due to arrive next chapter...Seungkwan also explores a new tactic in dealing with his broken heart at a party


	88. C1-12 Take it off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The package Seungkwan sent to Hansol finally gets delivered. As more time passes Seungkwan searches for ways to get over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo~ This one is a bit longer than the average chapter of this fic, but I didn't want to cut it in two. It's a rollercoaster chapter.

Hansol signed his name and took the package from the mailman. It was quite heavy and he grunted setting it down on his chair. He figured it was something his parents' had sent, but when he saw the handwriting of the address his heart stopped. There was no mistake. That was Seungkwan's neat penmanship. He used his scissors to cut the tape and ripped it off. The first thing he saw was a greeting card with a cute little bear on it. He took it from the box and turned it over.

_SURPRISE! (assuming I've been able to keep my mouth shut and it's still a surprise lol)_

_I miss you lots and I love you more. It's hard to be away from you but I'm so proud of having a boyfriend as brave and wonderful as you! I think it must be hard for you too, so I stuffed this box with things that I hope you'll like and make you think of home (and me). This card is too small to write down all my feelings so just enjoy~._

With heavy arms Hansol picked up a few of the items in the box. Snacks and candy that he liked but couldn't get here, lipbalm, a bag of coffee beans from the place Seungkwan worked at. Several items had little notes stuck to them. The coffee beans came with a Polaroid of Seungkwan posing with a coffee machine in his work outfit. Hansol smiled, but felt his heart clench tight. He turned the photo over and saw the text written on the back. _So you can have a taste before I can make you one in person ;)_

He let out a controlled breath and placed the bag back into the box. He took out his phone and opened the chat with the rooftoppers.

**Sol:** _I just got a package from Seungkwan...I think he sent it before we broke up but should I let him know I got it? Thank him_ _or_ _something...? Is that weird?_

Across the ocean Jihoon was the first one to read it. He wished he wasn't because he felt like he wasn't the best at the advice giving.

**Hoon:** _idk would u like to be thanked by your ex?_

Hansol didn't know what he would want if the roles were reversed. More importantly he didn't know what Seungkwan would want. He had no idea how he was doing in the first place. Maybe instead of thanking him he should be thinking about apologizing that he went through all that trouble. Then again that didn't felt right either.

**Sol:** _I wish he hadn't done this..._

Jihoon didn't get angry often. He hadn't even been _angry_ at Hansol for breaking up with Seungkwan. He didn't understand it, but he had broken up with a number of people himself and knew that sometimes these things just happen. People and feelings change. But this rubbed him the wrong way.

**Hoon:** _Are you blaming him for doing something nice!? How was he supposed to know_ _u_ _were going to dump him?_

Hansol groaned. That wasn't what he meant. He knew he had failed to make Seungkwan understand how he was feeling. _He_ barely understood how he was feeling. About their relationship, about who he was and what he needed in his life right now. He knew he loved Seungkwan. That hadn't changed. He couldn't imagine that ever changing. But he felt like he needed time to figure out some of those other things and because of it had drifted in a direction away from Seungkwan. Maybe it was selfish. Maybe he could have tried harder to make it work. Maybe it was just the cliché of him being in a place in his life where he needed to be with himself for a while.

**Sol:** _sorry...I didn't mean it like that._

**Hoon:** _If_ _u r_ _going to stay stupid shit like that to him, don't send anything_

Hansol bit down on right cheek. If Jihoon was like this then Seungkwan must really hate him now. The thought that Boo Seungkwan was out there, hating him or at least seeing him in a negative light, was a terrible thought. He knew he had only himself to blame for it and perhaps he deserved it for breaking his heart.

**Hannie:** _I think what he means is that maybe it's better if_ _u_ _give him space. Don't confuse him_

**Chan:** _...unless_ _u wanna_ _get back together?_

Hansol thought about what to send next. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Seungkwan more than he already had, but getting back together was not something he could see happening anytime soon. Everything was fucked up now.

**Sol:** _I won't send anything then...I know_ _u_ _guys might hate me_ _rn_ _but thank you for still talking to me_

**Hannie:** _We don't hate_ _u_ _, Hansol._

**Hannie:** _But u r not exactly my favorite person in the world right now either_

**Hoon:** ^

**Chan:** ^

<>

“Shit, shit, shit!” Seungkwan cursed out loud startling Mingyu.

“What's wrong?” He asked looking up from his phone.

“Remember that package I sent to Hansol a while ago? I had completely forgotten about it with all that has happened since, but I got an e-mail that was delivered. It's signed for and everything so he definitely got it. Fuck.”

“I'm sure he knews that you sent it before the break-up.”

“That's not the point, Kim Mingyu!”

“What are you full-naming me for? I get that you don't want him to enjoy all the nice things you sent him but-”

“It's not about the _things_! It's about how I rambled on about my love for him on half a dozen notes in there!” He ran his hands up and down the sides of his face. “This is horrible. Humiliating. I was slightly embarrassed about it when I wrote it as his boyfriend, but now? This is a nightmare.” He sat up straight and looked at the e-mail again. “Also.” He said sounding more angry than horrified. “According to this he received it _hours_ ago. He could have sent something. Just a 'thanks' or confirming when I sent it or- Unless he hasn't opened it. No, of course he has. Who receives a surprise package and doesn't open it? Right?”

“Eh...” Mingyu wasn't sure how Seungkwan wanted him to respond.

“Or-” Seungkwan rambled on. “Maybe he's already grown so indifferent towards me that he doesn't even care. Maybe he isn't sad or happy or anything and he's just munching on his favorite chips without a care in the world. Asshole.”

“Or...Maybe he feels bad and doesn't know what to say?” Mingyu offered.

“Why are you defending him?” Seungkwan snapped.

“I'm not! I'm just saying that, regardless of how he feels, he might not know what to say. He might be worried that he'll say the wrong thing and upset you.”

Seungkwan sank back in his chair and scoffed. “Oh yeah, I'm sure he's real worried about upsetting me.”

“Seungkwan...” Mingyu had no idea what was going on in Hansol's head, but he refused to believe the boy had suddenly stopped caring for Seungkwan.

“You're probably right. He wasn't always the best with knowing what to say. I just feel so stupid. While I was busy making him a 'love package' he was probably already thinking that we should break up.” He looked down at his couple bracelet still on his wrist and sighed. “I should probably take this off, shouldn't I?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Mingyu replied softly.

Seungkwan twisted it around his wrist, his fingers stopping at the close. “I will.” He inhaled slowly and exhaled with a puff of air. “Eventually.”

<>

A few more weeks had gone by and Seungkwan was getting better at not letting his mind wonder off to Hansol all the time. There had been no contact between them and his friends didn't bring it up. He had told his family and he knew through Hansol's sister that his family knew too. The bracelet, however, was still on his wrist like a relationship relic.

“Seungkwan.” Mingyu was standing in front of the mirror, holding up different shirts to see which one was better at bringing out his eyes with his new dark brown hair. “Come to this party with me. I'm begging you. You're always cooped up in here. It's time for you to get back out there and this party is the perfect opportunity!”

“And what exactly does getting back out there mean to you? Make out with some random guy I don't even know?”

“Yes! Kiss a guy, hook up with a guy! Go nuts! I think it'll be good for you!”

“I don't think I'm ready for dating someone new.” He mumbled.

“Okay, not dating then. But that doesn't mean you can't do anything. We're in college! It's not like everybody is out looking for a serious thing. Just a no strings attached kind of thing. Just to get you moving.”

Seungkwan groaned and stood up to start roaming through his own closet. “Can I just go to this party because some of my friends will be there and I could use a night that's not spent in this room?”

“Yes! Of course. Just please come with me and try to have some fun.”

{Party}

“Guys,” Seokmin, with a few drinks in his system, spoke. “Did I tell you about the revelation I've had thanks to Soonyoung?”

“No, what's that?” Seungkwan asked with a chuckle. He was better at pacing himself with the booze and without Jihoon there he was probably the most sober of his friends.

"I'm a top."

Seungkwan stared at him blankly, not sure what to do with this information. "Eh...okay. This was news to you?"

"Well, sort of, yeah.” Seokmin nodded seriously. “As you know, I've had sex before. But never as a top. So naturally when Soon suggested I'd top I had some doubts, but fuck me I'm a total top. No, actually, I guess I can do both, but topping is just-”

“Well, that was nice of you to share with the group and I'm glad he's able to take you to new levels of sexual satisfaction but I think I've heard enough.” Seungkwan downed the drink in his hand with a big gulp.

"But for real. I didn't know sex could be so fun." Seokmin laughed gleefully and Mingyu giggled with him in agreement. Seungkwan pursed his lips.

“Oh!” Mingyu exclaimed with his eyes somewhere across the room. “That's Hojin. I'm going to go say hi!”

“Who is Hojin?” Seokmin asked Seungkwan as Mingyu walked away.

“Just some guy he's been seeing. There not 'official' or whatever, but I think Mingyu likes him. He hasn't really talked about it much.” He knew it was because Mingyu didn't want to gush over a crush while Seungkwan was trying to get over a break-up. He let his eyes wander away from Mingyu and he got a feel of the other people at this party. Lots of attractive men. Maybe his friends were right. Maybe he did need to let go a little and be open to the possibilities of the night.

With that thought still floating around his head and another drink in his hand he didn't say no when a guy asked him to dance. He looked nothing like Hansol. His face was different, the build of his body was different, the way he looked at him was different, the way he placed his hands on his hips as they danced was different. Nothing to remind him of his ex-boyfriend. Good.

Not long after that he found himself between a wall and this guy who wasn't Hansol kissing him eagerly. Maybe Seokmin had a point earlier. Sex was fun. Right? He had promised Mingyu to have fun. He stopped their little make out session by gently placing his palm on the other guy's chest and pulling his head back. His heart was pounding out of his chest.“Do you, eh-” He was really going to do this, wasn't he? “...want to go up to my room?”

The guy bit his lip, “Yeah?”

“Yes. Let's go.” _Before I change my mind._

{dorm room}

Seungkwan nodded when the guy had his hands on the button of his jeans and looked up at him for permission to undo it. His stomach felt weird. A mix of nerves, anticipation and the faint feeling that he was rushing into things here. It didn't stop him from lifting his hips to allow his pants to be taken off.

He moaned softly and turned his head to the side. When he opened his eyes they landed on his arm placed next to his face on the pillow. In a daze he stared at the bracelet around his wrist. His hand moved slightly with the pace the man on top of him was setting. He snapped out of it and reached up so he could pull him closer. He clashed their lips together in an attempt to drive Hansol from his mind.

<>

Mingyu opened the door to their room very slowly. He had gotten a diamond emoji from Seungkwan, their sign that the room was safe to enter again. Seungkwan's bed was empty but it looked like it had been used recently. He was just starting to wonder where Seungkwan could be when he was startled by a sudden 'hey' coming from behind him. He jerked around and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Seungkwan, hair damp and in his pjs, probably just back from the showers.

“Fuck, you scared me.”

“Sorry.” Seungkwan mumbled and threw his clothes on the floor in front of his closet.

“Are you alone?” Mingyu whispered.

“Do you see anyone else here?”

“No, but...you weren't alone when you left the party, right? You sent me the carrot and Seokmin said that you were making out with a guy.”

Seungkwan sat down on the edge of his bed and nodded. “Right.”

“So...what happened?”

“He already left.”

“Oh.” Mingyu sat down on his own bed opposite Seungkwan. “Did you...?”

“Yup.”

“Well, how was it?”

Seungkwan sighed and he was fighting back tears. Mingyu instantly moved to sit next to him and take his hand. “Did this guy hurt you or take advantage of you? I'll kill him.”

Seungkwan shook his head and sniffed, “No, it's nothing like that. I just- I tried so hard not to think about him. I thought that if it was with someone who didn't remind me of him I'd be able to, but I couldn't help it. I just started comparing things in my head. How this guy's touch felt different from Hansol and all the other ways he wasn't Hansol. Which was in every way, by the way.” He scooted closer to Mingyu and pulled at his arm to let him know he wanted to be held. “I never had sex just for sex before. I mean, sure, I've had sex because I was in the mood for sex before, but it was always with someone who cared for me, you know. And of course this guy didn't care. We barely talked before I asked him up here.” He buried his face in Mingyu's warm chest. “Oh man...I asked a guy I didn't even know to come up to my room to have sex and then I actually went and had sex with him. What's wrong with me?”

“Hey it's not so bad. It's okay to just have sex with someone. As long as everybody is into it and safe.” He ran his hand down Seungkwan's back. “I'm sorry I pushed you to 'get back out there'. I thought it might help you get over him or something.”

“It's not your fault. I thought it too, to be honest. For a second there I even thought it was working. But then the thinking and the comparing started to happen and it was just- I don't think I'm the type for casual sex. He must have thought I was so rude too. After we finished I felt so awkward and weird that I ushered him out the door as fast as I could. I didn't even give him my number or ask for his.” Seungkwan sat back up and wiped away a tear. “You want to know the most pathetic thing of all?”

“What's that?”

“I feel like I cheated on him.” A laugh fell from his mouth. The whole situation and the way he was feeling was ridiculous. It wasn't fair. He gets dumped and yet he's the one feeling guilty for sleeping with someone else? “I almost texted him...I don't even know what for. To ask him how he is? To let him know that he isn't the only guy I've ever slept with anymore? But then I thought- What if he's blocked me? Or what if-” He stopped to inhale and exhale in an unsteady manner. “What if he doesn't even care? What if I told him that another man was just naked with me and he doesn't care? He would care, right? He used to get jealous of _you_. So he has to care. Right?” He couldn't stop tears from falling again. With blurred vision he started to try and undo the clasp of the bracelet. “I want to take it off. I have to take it off.” He struggled to open it and held up his arm. “Can you?”

Mingyu nodded and silently took it off for him. He placed it in Seungkwan's hand who wrapped his fingers around it. He stood up and opened his closet. He unceremoniously threw it in. He didn't sit back on his own bed again. Instead he sat down on Mingyu's.

Mingyu started to change out of his clothes and into his sleepwear. “Do you want to be a Boorrito again?” He asked as he climbed onto the bed and under his covers.

“No. I want to sleep under your blanket with you.”

Mingyu winced when Seungkwan got under the covers. “Your feet are cold.”

“Sorry. Also, I used one of your condoms. Good night.”

Mingyu got an arm around Seungkwan's shoulder and pulled him a bit closer. “Good night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Hansol is having a hard time too (but he still thinks it's what's best for now)  
> \- I didn't give a name to Seungkwan's one night stand because it doesn't matter who it was tbh  
> \- I'm a bit worried it seems like all they do at college is party, but they don't even go to that many. It's just that there is where a lot of things happen I guess  
> \- Jihoon and Jisoo weren't at this party  
> \- At least SeokSoon's sex life is going well (always look for that silver lining)  
> \- As far as I know there isn't an idol by the name Hojin (the fact that I gave Mingyu's new love interest a non-idol name is an indication that he'll turn out not to be a very nice guy and I didn't want to attach any idol to that)


	89. C1-13 No wrong or right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While they're getting some take-out Mingyu tells Seungkwan about the idea his father has for their upcoming Spring Break. On the way to Jisoo's room they run into a couple of professors; once in Jisoo's room they found out he and Jeonghan had a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea what to call this chapter, lol

Seungkwan sighed with frustration. “It's one thing they make us pick up the food, but it would be nice if they could actually let us know what they want. Nobody is replying to me.” He gestured to the menu above the counter. “Let's just order whatever. I guess we sort of know what everybody likes anyway.”

Mingyu ordered as much fit their budget and they stood back to wait for their order to be done. “So, eh, I talked to my Dad yesterday and he mentioned how Spring Break is coming up and he wants to go fishing. With us.”

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow. “Us as in you and me us?”

“Yeah. Just for a couple of days. What do you say?”

“I don't know.” Of course not that long ago his plan for Spring Break had been to go visit Hansol, but that was obviously out the window. “I've never really gone fishing before. My dad tried to take me once but I refused to go. I'd feel kind of bad if I go fishing with your dad instead.” Not to mention that spending a few days on a boat with nothing to do but catch your own dinner wasn't exactly his idea of a vacation.

“Well, that kind of works out then because Dad said he wants to invite your dad too.”

“Oh, eh...in that case I can't really think of a reason to say no. I guess.” He tried to think of some excuse other than that fishing was probably not really his thing, but all he got was that he wasn't sure if him and his dad on a small boat together for more than a few hours was the best idea. They were finally at a point where they could communicate without turning it into an argument all the time, so he didn't want to dismiss the idea to spend more time with him so quickly. Besides, Mingyu seemed to think it was a nice idea.

“Great! I think it'll be really fun! Like a guy trip!”

“If we call it that my dad will definitely not come.”

Mingyu laughed. “It'll be fine!” He looked up at the call of their number and went to grab their take-out. Mingyu told him about how his dad had taken him fishing when he was a kid on the way to Jisoo's building.

“Hey, that's my professor!” Seungkwan said when he spotted a familiar cheerful face near the entrance. “What's he doing here?” He was already walking over to greet him when he got pulled back by his arm.

“Wait!” Mingyu hissed. “He's not alone!”

“So? Why does that matter? I'm just saying hello.”

“Don't you recognize the other guy? That's professor Park!”

Seungkwan looked back at the two men and eyed the one with black hair, thick rimmed glasses, and- “The one with the great ass that you're thirsting after?”

“I'm done thirsting. I'm avoiding. I skipped his class a few times and maybe missed a deadline.”

“Why?” Seungkwan narrowed his eyes at him. Back in high school he always knew what Mingyu's homework was since he had it too and they would study together sometimes. But now he had no idea exactly how he was doing in his academic endeavors.

“I- His class is so difficult!”

“So you just stopped even trying? What other classes are you failing?”

“Nevermind about that. Can we just not talk to them?”

Seungkwan pursed his lips and gave Mingyu his look of judgment. “And how are we supposed to go in? They're right by the door. I'm not waiting until they leave. Our food will get cold. I'm going to go say hello. You can just slip in behind me if you're so scared to talk to your hot professor.”

Mingyu groaned and tried to make himself small enough to be hidden behind Seungkwan's figure.

“Professor Seo?” Seungkwan said. “Hi. It's me-”

“Seungkwan! Of course. How are you? Since we're not in class you can just call me Eunkwang by the way.” The professor laughed loudly and Seungkwan joined him just as cheerfully. Mingyu, who had been indeed planning to just bolt inside without making any eye contact, stopped to stare at Seungkwan. He was smiling so much the corners of his mouth were almost up to his ears and he even placed a hand on his professor's arm while they laughed with each other.

“I'm great professor! I loved your lecture the other day. What are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking.”

Eunkwang sighed and pointed at a piece of paper stuck to the bulletin board right by the door. “Just hanging up a sign-up sheet for the musical I organize every year. Sadly interest has been dwindling in the past few years. If we don't get more students to join I might have to play a part myself.” He laughed again. “You wouldn't happen to be able to carry a tune, would you?”

“I'd love to hear your voice, sir! Eunkwang. As for myself, I can sing pretty well, actually. And I think I have time! I'll make time! I can even ask some of my friends if you, we, need more people.”

“Seungkwan, that would be amazing.”

“Also, I work at a coffee shop near here and I could ask my boss if we can put up a notice there too. If not for auditions then to gain a bigger audience.”

“You wouldn't happen to work at The Grind, would you?”

“Oh my gosh, yes! You know it?” Seungkwan clapped his hands together in delight.

“The owner is a friend of mine actually. Oh!” The man seemed to suddenly remember the presence of professor Park. “Speaking of friends. This is Park Jinyoung. Also a friend and fellow professor.”

“Nice to meet you,” the man spoke. He smiled at Seungkwan and then directed his gaze to Mingyu. “Mr. Kim. Glad to see you're feeling better. I do hope you can come to the next class. We still need to talk about that paper you owe me.”

Mingyu straightened up immediately and nodded his head. “Y-yes, sir!”

“Come on, Jinyoung, we should get going.” He smiled at the two of them. “And you boys look like you have dinner to get to. Seungkwan, I do hope you can audition. The musical might not be all that popular, but it's a lot of fun.”

“Oh, definitely, sir. Have a nice evening.”

“What was that?” Mingyu asked as they walked the stairs up to Jisoo's floor.

“What was what?”

“The way your voice became all quiz show host-y when you talked to your professor? You were trying so hard. The flirting was real.”

Seungkwan scoffed. “Please, I was just being nice. I always talk to him like that.”

“If you say so, but I think I'm not the only one with a crush on a teacher,” he teased.

“Shut up. I do not.” He tried to kick him, but Mingyu hopped out of his way with a grin on his face.

Seungkwan sighed loudly and opened the door to Jisoo's room. “No complaints if we didn't get what you want. That's what you get when you don't-” He stopped talking when he felt the heavy air in the room. Seokmin had his arm wrapped around Jisoo whose eyes were red and puffy. “What's going on?”

“He and Jeonghan had a fight...” Seokmin answered. “A big one.”

“What!? Why!?” Seungkwan realized his voice had an accusatory tone and came out louder than he had intended so he gave Jisoo an apologetic look. “I mean,” he asked in a calmer manner. “What happened?”

Jisoo got up and took the food from Mingyu to place it on his desk. He started taking it out as he talked. “This is not something that everybody knows, because we never talk about it, but Jeonghan isn't out to his family.”

“Still?” Seungkwan asked softly. Jisoo had mentioned this to him before, but that had been over a year and a half ago. He had never asked Jeonghan about it.

Jisoo nodded and took a breath before continuing his story. “Recently we started talking about maybe finding a small place we can afford halfway between each of our schools and moving in together next year. Today we were browsing a housing website just for fun and everything was great until I had to ask what he planned to tell his family when we do start living together. When he said that lots of guys our age have roommates I just couldn't keep it in anymore. I've never consciously pressured him and always said that he should come out on his own time, but I'm at my limit.” He took a few shallow, shaky breaths. “I'm going on years of not being able to spend time with him on holidays and special occasions and being introduced as his friend whenever I do meet a member of his family. I don't want to entertain people at my own home and having to pretend I'm someone I'm not. Pretend that what Jeonghan and I are to each other is something that it's not. Our relationship is worth more than that. Isn't it?” He sniffed and took the tissue Mingyu was holding out to him. “What do you guys think? Am I wrong here?”

“You're not wrong,” Mingyu said. “You should be able to be yourself. Especially in your own house. Feeling like you can't be or shouldn't be is a horrible feeling and for whatever reason, Jeonghan seems to feel that way with his family.”

“So you're saying I should just suck it up for the few times a year I'd have to see them?”

Mingyu shook his head and took Jisoo's hand. “No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I don't think there is a right or a wrong in this situation. I understand being afraid to come out, I really really do, but Jeonghan is making _you_ feel bad too.”

“I just don't get it. His family is kind and I've never heard them say anything homophobic. He's close to his sister and he hasn't even told her. Maybe I can't understand since it was so easy for me. I think my parents knew I didn't just like girls even before I did. It was never a problem. They welcomed Jeonghan with open arms too.”

“My family is kind too, but it still took a lot for me to come out. I can't speak for Jeonghan, but I was terrified of accepting the fact that I'm gay and, maybe even more so, I was terrified that they wouldn't accept me. But-” He smiled a little. “Once I did come out a weight lifted of my shoulders like you wouldn't believe. Of course they were very supportive and things might have been different if they hadn't been, but at some point the fear that I'd lose my family was overwhelmed by the suffocating feeling of hiding who I was.”

Seungkwan listened to Mingyu talk and couldn't help but think that maybe it was Jeonghan who needed to hear this. He couldn't imagine the hurt Jisoo must feel over this, but Jeonghan was hurting just the same. Maybe even more so. He stood up and silently walked out the room. He called Jeonghan's number. The voice that picked up wasn't his, however. “Jihoon? Why are you on Jeonghan's phone? Where are you?”

“ _At Jeonghan's. Wait, I'll step out for a moment._ ”

There was some rustling on the other end and soft voices before Jihoon spoke again.

“ _It's kind of awkward over here. I'm assuming Jisoo has filled you in?_ ”

“Yeah.” Seungkwan's voice was small.

“ _He's been crying and I don't know what to say if I'm being honest. At least Seungcheol is here too. His shoulders are nice and broad. Good for crying on._ ”

“Jihoon...”

“ _Sorry. I just- I don't know, Seungkwan._ ”

“Me too.” He chewed on his bottom lip. “Can you just tell him that I called and that we're his family too. So no matter what he'll have us.”

“ _I think he knows that_.”

“Just tell him please. With actual words.”

“ _I will_.”

“Thanks. I just wanted to check in. I'm going back now.” They hung up, but Seungkwan didn't move. He let himself slide down with his back against the wall. This wasn't about him. This wasn't his relationship. He knew that. Of course he knew that. But he couldn't stand the idea of those two maybe breaking up. They had to get through this. They just had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I fear that if Jeonghan and Jisoo can't get through this Seungkwan will lose his faith in love. His parents got divorced, Mingyu and Wonwoo broke up, Hansol dumped him. He needs his self-proclaimed alternative parents to work it out :(  
> -Jeonghan was over at Jisoo when they got into the fight (idk if I'd call it a fight...not a fight with yelling and stuff) and Jihoon went with him back to his place  
> -Going fishing...and perhaps camping at night...Boogyu in a tent together  
> -But first! Seungkwan will run into a familiar face from high school next chapter   
> (will also of course work in what goes on with Jeonghan and Jisoo, but not right away)


	90. C1-14 Catching up (Spring Break I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan runs into someone he hasn't seen in a while and they decide to catch up.

The situation with Jeonghan and Jisoo wasn't something that was going to be fixed overnight and the two of them had decided to keep away from the topic for a few weeks and give each other some space until after Spring Break.

“I think it's good for us. Really,” Jisoo said and he sipped the coffee Seungkwan had placed in front of him. “It's given us some time to think about things and get perspective.”

“Just don't expect him to come back after that midweek at his grandparents saying that he came out to his entire family.”

“I'm not.” Jisoo sighed. “Although I guess a part of me is hoping for it.”

Seungkwan threw a quick look around the place to see if any customers needed his immediate attention and sat down across from his friend. “Do you know what you're going to do if things don't change on his end? Maybe-”

“Seungkwan,” Jisoo interrupted him. “It's sweet how much you care, but can we stop talking about it? All I've been doing for the past few weeks is thinking about this. That and studying. I really need a week where I do something else.”

Seungkwan nodded. “I'm happy your mom is taking you on that trip.”

“Yeah, me too.”

With a groan Seungkwan got back up and straightened out his apron. “I wish I was going on a trip with my mom to a fancy hotel. How in the world did I let Mingyu make me think that going fishing was a good idea? I tried to watch a video yesterday on how to clean a fish and it's disgusting.”

Jisoo chuckled. “Yeah, good luck with that.” He emptied his drink and started putting on his coat. “Let me know how it was. Not just the fishing, but with your dad too.”

Seungkwan took the empty cup from the table. “I'll send you a picture if I catch anything.” Jisoo left and Seungkwan cleaned the table. It was getting close to closing time and he was glad there weren't many customers left. It was his last shift before he'd go home to spend a few days with his mother. They weren't going to do anything special, but that's what he liked best. Just being with his mother was enough. It was the buffer he needed to recharge himself after the last few months and before heading out onto a boat.

{Supermarket, a few days later}

He picked up a bag of chips and threw it in his basket. Maybe he shouldn't bring too many snacks seeing as they'd probably sleep early tonight anyway. Seungkwan was going to head over to Mingyu's house soon so they could get an early start tomorrow (too early for Seungkwan's taste). His dad was going to meet up with them at the fishing spot. He was just about to head for the check-out when a voice called his name. He turned around and was certainly surprised by who it had been. “Hyunggu? What are you doing here?” He hadn't seen him since graduation and the months since then seemed to have treated him well. He looked good, Seungkwan noticed.

The young man held up his shopping basket and smiled. “Just grabbing a few things my mom needs for dinner. I'm home for a few days.”

“Oh, right. You live around here?”

“Seungkwan, you've been to my house. You know where I live.”

“Oh, right.” He chuckled awkwardly not sure what to say next.

“Well, it was nice seeing you.” Hyunggu smiled and moved like he was going to turn around and walk away but changed his mind. “I don't have to go home right away. Do you maybe want to go grab a coffee somewhere and catch up a bit?”

If he and Hansol had still been together he might have said no. Then again if he and Hansol had still been together he wouldn't have even been here at this supermarket right now. Besides, there was no way Hyunggu knew Seungkwan was single, so he probably didn't mean anything by it anyway. “OK. Sure.”

They paid for their groceries and took a short bus ride to a nearby coffee shop that Hyunggu recommended. They sat down at the back and got to talking. The first topic was student life and how that was going. The second was part-time jobs. But when, after laughing at a few high school memories, all other topics seemed to be exhausted they finally landed on romance. Seungkwan swallowed hard after the inevitable question about how Hansol was doing. It was frustrating that telling the story about how they were no longer together made him feel embarrassed and then stupid for feeling embarrassed.

Hyunggu clicked his tongue and shook his head with sympathy. “That sucks, man. I got to say, I know high school romances rarely last, but I really thought you and Hansol would be able to stick it out.”

“Yeah, well, something for you and him to disagree on I guess.”

  
“He's an idiot. He had the hottest ass in town and he gave that up.” Hyunggu leaned his chin on his hand and smiled.

“Maybe that was the problem. A long distance deal doesn't exactly include a lot of ass,” Seungkwan joked.

“Come on, even without the ass you're a catch. Funny, smart...sexy.” His eyes were piercing as he picked up his drink to suck at the straw, never losing eye-contact.

Seungkwan lost his ability to speak for a second. All of a sudden the air felt a lot hotter than it had five minutes ago. “I don't know about that,” he mumbled with sudden shyness. “So, eh, what about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“Nope.” There was a pause filled with implications. “Do you want to go take a walk? The weather's nice.”

“Oh, ehm...yeah. I can take a walk.”

“Or do you need to get going? Don't feel like you have to say yes.” He smiled.

Seungkwan smiled back. “No, it's fine. A walk sounds nice.”

They strolled slowly through the streets. Seungkwan wasn't really paying attention as to where they were going. With everything that had happened between them he had almost forgotten how they had been before he and Hansol had gotten together. “You were one of the first people of the basketball team to be nice to me.” He wasn't sure why he was suddenly bringing that up, but he wanted to say it. “One of the first outside music club, really.”

“That's just because, unlike most of the people at our school, I'm not an idiot. No, wait. Scratch that. I am an idiot. That day we all went out for burgers and the guys were being rude to you I regret not being the one to go after you.”

“I remember that. After I left, Hansol followed me out and we went to an arcade...” Seungkwan didn't like thinking about that day now. Hansol had told him once that he had started to fall in love with him on that day. They had walked away from the more crowded area. It was quiet here. He let his eyes drift along the buildings they were passing. They landed on the sign of the building to his right and he stopped. Hyunggu stopped also and looked between the sign and Seungkwan.

“Do you want to go in?”

Seungkwan met his eyes and nodded. “OK.”

“Really?” He looked a little surprised and it made Seungkwan smile. He nodded again.

“Yeah.”

“Well, then. What are we waiting for?” Hyunggu stepped forward and held the door of the love hotel open so Seungkwan could enter.

In near complete silence they picked a room and went up. Seungkwan took off his coat and shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed. He stared down at his hands when he felt the bed dip with the weight of Hyunggu sitting down next to him.

“Seungkwan?” he said with a soft voice and Seungkwan turned his head to look at him. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.”

With a smile on his lips Hyunggu leaned in and placed a kiss on Seungkwan's mouth. It was soft and gentle. When he felt a hand being placed on his thigh and the kiss started to heat up Seungkwan pulled back. “Hyunggu, I- Before we go any further I want to make sure we're on the same page here. I'm not looking for- This is just-”

“You're not looking for anything serious and this will probably be just a one time thing?”

“Is that okay?”

“I figured as much. You're still getting over Hansol, I study across the country. I'm afraid we were never meant to be.” He ran his thumb over Seungkwan's cheek with a feather-light touch. “But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy this moment. Right?”

<>

The silence in which they got dressed wasn't uncomfortable. They sat next to each other putting on their shoes. Seungkwan stood up and Hyunggu did the same. He placed his hands on Seungkwan's hips. “I'm really glad we did this, Seungkwan. I had a good time and I hope you did too.” He leaned in and placed a soft peck on Seungkwan's lips. “I have to get going. My mom is still waiting on those groceries.” He picked up his coat. “Didn't you say you had to get somewhere too?”

“Oh, yeah, I should get going. I'm actually going fishing tomorrow with Mi-” Suddenly it hit him that he just slept with someone his best friend had slept with also. “...my dad.”

“Wow, really? I didn't take you for the fishing type,” Hyunggu laughed and handed Seungkwan his coat.

“Me neither.” Seungkwan tried to laugh, but he felt awful. He hadn't even considered Mingyu before. They walked back outside to a point where they could each go their own way. “So...” Seungkwan started, unsure on how to say goodbye to someone you've known for years, you know had a crush on you, has slept with your best friend, and you just slept with yourself.

“So, maybe I'll see you around some time?” Hyunggu said. “I'll hit you up the next time I'm in town. Maybe if we're both still single at that time we could meet up again? Or just catch up or whatever.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Seungkwan made a wave-like hand gesture before Hyunggu disappeared around the corner. He turned around and with lead in his shoes started to make his way to Mingyu's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like parts of this chapter felt rushed but idk
> 
> -Did we see this coming?  
> -Hyunggu has learned from the last time he kissed Seungkwan and asked beforehand if it was okay (even though they were already IN A LOVE HOTEL, but getting that consent is good)  
> -Mingyu and Hyunggu were never a couple, but...how do you think he'll react (if Seungkwan tells him...should he tell him?)  
> -I'll have Seungkwan talk a bit about why he slept with him  
> Next time it's fishing trip time! Seungkwan has a talk with his dad and he and Mingyu share a tent


	91. C1-15 Fishing (Spring Break II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan, Mingyu, and their dads go fishing. Seungkwan's father reaches out to him while Seungkwan is busy keeping his distance from Mingyu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for some reason this one took longer to write than I thought it would (maybe because it turned out a bit longer)

Seungkwan hadn't told Mingyu why he had been so late yesterday. He had brushed him off and distracted him with a bag of snacks. They had watched a movie and gone to sleep. The next morning Seungkwan would have been lying if he said he shared Mingyu's father's enthusiasm when he woke them up at the crack of dawn. Now, he was dozing off on the backseat of the car. He woke up when Mingyu poked him in the side to tell them they were almost there. When he got out of the car his head was still groggy with sleep, but the cool wind woke him up. His dad was already there waiting for them. They unloaded their stuff from the car and followed Mr. Kim to the boat they'd be using.

“Isn't she beautiful?” he asked. Seungkwan and Mingyu exchanged a look with each other that told them neither of them thought that _beautiful_ was the most fitting adjective in this case. Not that they knew anything about boats.

“Eh, sure, Dad. But isn't it-”

“She.”

Mingyu gave him a look that was more often found on Seungkwan's face than his. One that said ' _whatever, can I continue talking now?_ '. “Okay. She. Isn't _she_ a bit small? Where are we supposed to sleep?”

“Didn't I tell you? We don't sleep on the boat. Why do you think I brought tents?” He pointed out over the water. “There's a camping spot on the other end. Me and Mr. Boo each have our own and you and Seungkwan will share one. Now come on. It's time for us to teach you boys a thing or too about the wonders of fishing.”

Seungkwan quickly learned that a large part of fishing, or at least in his experience, involved not doing much of anything. After the initial talk about what bait to use, safety, and what to do if a fish would actually bite there was time to just sit back and take it easy. He had been sticking closer to his father than he normally would because he was trying to avoid Mingyu a bit. Partly because of yesterday and the fact that he hadn't told him about it, partly because with their fathers there Seungkwan was aware just how comfortable he and Mingyu had become at showing physical affection with one another. It was the small things like holding his hand when he was telling him something, Mingyu brushing his hand on his arm or back when walking by, feeding each other a piece of food. All things that had become so normal that Seungkwan usually barely even noticed that they did this. Even if Mingyu's father never seemed uncomfortable and his own father had grown more supportive over the years, Seungkwan toned it down just a little.

So now he was just sitting next to his father. In silence. His father cleared his throat and held out a beer for him.

Hesitantly Seungkwan took it. He had never had a drink with him before. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

His father took a sip and fixed his eyes on the horizon. “I know this comes a little late but I'm sorry about Hansol, son. You're both still young. Maybe too young to know what real love and relationships are all about, but...” He looked at his son and placed a hand on his leg giving it a little squeeze, “That boy made the biggest mistake of his life letting you go.”

“Thanks, Dad.” He patted his hand. It was a gesture unfamiliar between the two of them. They had never shown their affection very openly, but perhaps the gap formed by years of emotional and physical distance had gotten a little smaller.

“So...” his father continued, “Mingyu...is he...?”

Seungkwan looked at his dad who had his eyes on the water again. “Gay? Yes, he is.”

“But you and him aren't...?”

Seungkwan controlled his laugh. There was something endearing about the way his father was trying to ask him about his love life. “No, Dad. Me and Mingyu aren't.”

“Just thought I'd ask. I mean, you two are obviously close and you seem to know his father pretty well too.”

“We are close. We've known each other for years and we're roommates at college. He's my best friend. He's the person I can completely be myself with.” He looked to his right where Mingyu and his father were sitting on the other end of the boat. “We tell each other everything.” That last part was more to himself than to his dad. He was going to have to tell him that he slept with Hyunggu.

“You can tell me, you know. If you ever do get a new boyfriend.”

Seungkwan playfully scoffed. “Was the use of the word 'ever' necessary?”

“I'm just saying. I'm fine with it now. And I'm sorry if- I haven't always been- You know-”

“Dad. It's okay. I know that- Dad! My stick, I mean rod, something is pulling it! I think there's a fish!” And that brought an end to their heartfelt conversation.

{Tent}

“Mingyu? Are you awake?” Seungkwan whispered into the darkness.

“We literally got into bed like three minutes ago, so yeah.”

“I have to tell you something.”

“Something bad?”

He heard Mingyu shuffle around in his sleeping bag, but he didn't turn to look at him. It was too dark to really see anything anyway. “I don't know.”

“Okay...”

“I lied. Yesterday when I said I was late because I lost track of time. I was late because I ran into someone from high school.”

“Oh?”

“He asked me if I wanted to get a coffee and I said yes and when I told him me and Hansol had broken up he was all flirty and I guess I kind of liked it and then we took a walk and we walked by a hotel and without even thinking I stopped and we went in and-”

“Seungkwan, you're rambling. I think you're trying to tell me you were late because you were busy having sex with someone?”

“I'm sorry. I should have thought about...It just happened.”

“Why are you so sorry? Who was it?”

“Hyunggu.” Seungkwan held his breath. Not wanting to disrupt the silent night air, waiting for Mingyu's reaction.

“Well, I definitely didn't see that one coming.” He scooted a little closer in his sleeping bag. “But why are you sorry? Because I slept with him too, or what?”

Seungkwan looked to the side. His eyes had adjusted to the dark enough to sort of make out the contours of Mingyu's face. “Well, yeah.”

“I've told you dozens of times that me and Hyunggu were just fuck buddies. Maybe it would have pissed me off a little if we were still that, but I haven't even talked to him in months. It's not like he's my ex or something.”

“So you're not mad?”

“I'm a little surprised, but no, I'm not mad. I am in need of more details of how this happened though.”

Seungkwan let out a sigh of relief. “Now I regret not just telling you yesterday. I've been walking around feeling bad for nothing. But I basically already told you everything. We went for coffee and then walked passed a love hotel and we went in. Then we...well you know.”

Mingyu scooted even closer. “Are you okay though? The last time you slept with someone didn't exactly leave you feeling better about yourself.”

“Hmm. It was certainly better than that one-night-stand I had. I thought it would be nice to sleep with someone who likes me as a person and actually knows my name.”

“And was it?”

“It was. It was sort of...I don't know. Sweet? But in a pervy way? I don't know. I'd rather not go into too much detail since you, eh, seeing as we both-”

“He's our shared dick.”

“Good God, don't say it like that! It's not only gross, it also makes me feel bad. I don't want Hyunggu to feel like he's just good for sex or something.”

Mingyu chuckled. “You're not cut out for this casual sex thing, Boo Seungkwan.”

“Yeah, I think you might be right.”

“This was a one time thing though, right? You're not planning to start dating Hyunggu now, are you?”

“No! We were very clear that it was not a romantic situation. Although he did mention something about hitting me up the next time he's in town...”

“I think you've become his booty call. Pun intended.”

Seungkwan groaned. “I don't want to be a booty call. I want- I want- I don't know what I want. A perfect man to fall from the sky and land right in front of me. One who is handsome and funny and loves me and won't ever dump me.”

Mingyu sighed. “Don't we all?”

Seungkwan took his arm out and searched for Mingyu's hand. “You're really not mad, right? It was stupid of me to not even think about your past with him. I was just thinking about myself.”

“I'm not mad. Besides, even when I was sleeping with him I always knew you were really the one he wanted. But that didn't prevent us from having fun, so it should definitely not prevent you from having fun.”

Seungkwan groaned, “Now I feel bad again. Am I leading him on? I told him beforehand that I wasn't looking to date him.”

Mingyu chuckled again. “You're so cute, Seungkwan. And a bit naïve to be honest.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am fairly sure Hyunggu knew just what he was doing. You said he was flirting with you, right? Do you really think you just happened to walk by a love hotel?”

“...I- Do people do that? Walk by a hotel on purpose in the hopes that the other person will say something?”

“Yes. I'm pretty sure he hasn't been pining after you all this time, but I am pretty sure that he saw an opportunity knowing that you were single and he took it. Successfully.”

“Wow. You know, I had a good time actually, but you're right. Casual sex is not my cup of proverbial tea.” He inhaled sharply and exhaled with a single puff of air. “I've decided. I'm not going to sleep with anyone else unless they're my boyfriend.”

“Whatever works for you. Are we okay now? I felt like you were being distant today, but I thought it was just because of your dad.”

“Yeah, we're okay. Of course. I'm sorry. Things were actually good with my dad too. He even asked me if I had a new boyfriend. Never thought I'd see the day.” He wiggled his way to the middle of their small tent to get closer and share some body heat. It was silent again for a little while. He felt Mingyu's arm against his through their sleeping bags. Outside he could hear the sound of crickets chirping and the water as it moved against the bank.“Hey, remember when we used to make out?”

“How could I forget? It feels so long ago though.”

“Yeah...It'd be weird if we did it now, right?”

“Probably. Maybe. I don't know.” Mingyu propped himself up on his elbow and looked down into Seungkwan's big eyes. “Do you want to find out?”

“I'm in if you're in.”

Mingyu nodded. He leaned down and connected their lips. It had been a while that Mingyu kissed someone where there wasn't at least some intention of it leading to sex. The last time he had kissed Seungkwan, _really_ kissed him, neither of them had even had a boyfriend before. He had almost forgotten how nice kissing Seungkwan was. Just like then it felt safe and without pressure. Like a hug. When Seungkwan parted his lips for him Mingyu searched out the warmth of his mouth with his tongue. He shifted his body to get more comfortable, but the kiss came to an abrupt end when Seungkwan burst out laughing.

“Well...” Mingyu, still hovering over him, his hand on Seungkwan's chest, said “...that's not exactly the kind of reaction you want when kissing someone.”

“I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm laughing, but-” He laughed again. “When I felt your tongue I was suddenly thinking about how yesterday Hyunggu's tongue was in my mouth and how his tongue has also been in your mouth and then I just started thinking about just how many tongues have been in your mouth since mine.”

“Way to slut shame me.” Mingyu lied down on his back and Seungkwan rolled over to look at him. It was hard to tell in the dark, but he was pretty sure he was sporting a pout right now.

“I'm not slut shaming you! It's just- I can't. When we first kissed, not counting that time you kissed me and ran away, you had never kissed a boy before. Now, ever since we started college you've been going from guy to guy. And that's fine if that's what you want, but-.” Suddenly he gasped and sat up. “What about that Hojin guy you have that weird thing with!? Did you just cheat on him? Shit, am I an accomplice in your infidelity?”

“Don't be so dramatic! And what he and I have is not _weird_ , it's just that we're not exclusive.” He sighed.

“You don't sound like you're so happy about that?”

“It's..I just- Don't worry about it.”

Now it was Seungkwan's turn to pout. He dropped himself down on Mingyu's chest, causing the other boy to let out a loud grunt. “Stop that,” Seungkwan said softly. “You've barely talked to me about guys and who you're dating lately. At first I thought it was sweet because you probably wanted to avoid the topic for my sake, but now it's just getting annoying. Talk to me.”

“I guess I haven't really talked to you about him...”

“I haven't even really met him even though you've been seeing him for a while already.”

“Well, that's the thing. We're not really. I don't think he wants to be boyfriends. I haven't asked him pointblank, but he's still sleeping with other people. It's not like he's hiding it and he's fine if I sleep with other people too, but the thing is that I haven't. Not since I've met him and I kind of don't want him to sleep with other people either.”

“Maybe you should tell him that. You like this guy, right?”

“Yeah...”

“And you want him to be your boyfriend?”

“Yeah...”

“Then you have to talk to him. It's never going to work if you keep going like this. You'll just get hurt.”

“I know. You're right. Thanks. I really needed to hear you say it.”

“Then don't stop talking to me about these things again, idiot. I can handle it.” He snuggled up to Mingyu's side and closed his eyes. “We should get some sleep. I'm glad we talked. I'm sorry for asking you to kiss and then laugh while doing it. Won't happen again.”

“Asking me to kiss or laughing while we do?”

“Good night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Seungkwan's dad really just wants his son to be happy  
> -I know nothing about fishing :D  
> -So...Seungkwan says he won't sleep with any more people unless they are boyfriends. Does that mean he'll get a boyfriend soon or that he just won't have sex for a while? Stay tuned~
> 
> Next time (I think probably) we'll see if Jeonghan and Jisoo can work out some of their issues  
> (just fyi, while we haven't seen the last of him, Hansol won't be in the next couple of chapters)
> 
> A reminder that you can find me on twitter (@ Boo_dori) in case you want to send me a message about spoilers or something


	92. C1-16 Jeonghan and his sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeonghan is going to have a talk with his sister over at The Grind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little chapter away from Seungkwan's love life (tbh he doesn't have much of a love life atm?)

“Seungkwan!” Mingyu yanked him by his arm and whispered in his ear, “Do you see that man in the corner by the window? What is up with him?”

Seungkwan looked over and saw a man around their age with glasses perched on the tip of his nose reading a book. “What do you mean? He's just sitting there.”

“Why is he so pretty?”

“Didn't you _just_ talk to Hojin about going exclusive? Why are you crushing on someone else now?”

“I'm not crushing! That's not even a real person, that's art.”

“OK. Why don't you go over there to ask if the fine art needs a coffee refill?”

Mingyu shrunk into himself. “You do it.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes and shook his head. If this wasn't Mingyu crushing he'd punch himself in the face. “No. My shift is over. I'm only still here to give Jisoo some support when Hannie and his sister get here.”

“I still don't get why he's going to talk to her here. In public.”

“He feels it's safer. And we'll be right here if he needs us.” He picked up the two coffees he had just made. “I'll be sitting with Jisoo. Jeonghan's sister isn't supposed to see him yet, so don't say anything when they come in.”

<>

It had been a tense twenty minutes since Jeonghan and his younger sister had walked into the coffee shop and taken a seat a few tables away from where Seungkwan was sitting with a nervous Jisoo. Mingyu had come over and told them they could turn around since she had her back to them. They were sitting too far away to clearly hear what they were saying, but it seemed like they were just talking like two siblings catching up. That was until Jeonghan's smile disappeared from his face and he looked like he was about to throw up. He talked for a few minutes before he got up and started walking over. Jisoo stood up before he even reached them and walked with him back to his sister.

Jeonghan had his palm against the small of Jisoo's back. “Like I said, there's someone I'd like you to meet,” he said to his sister. She looked between the two of them in confusion as they sat down across from her.

“What do you mean? That's Jisoo. I've known him for years. What's going on?”

“I know you've known Jisoo ever since he and I became friends. When we first met we immediately hit it off and became close friends quickly. But-” Jeonghan needed one last moment to come out and say it. “But in our last year of high school something changed between us and we became...more than friends.”

“You mean he's your boyfriend or something?”

Jeonghan nodded. This was the meekest any of his friends had ever seen him be.

“That's gay.”

It took a moment before Jeonghan realized that she was trying to get rid of the heavy mood by making a joke, but when he did he felt the tears welling up. “Y-you're okay with it?”

She reached out across the table and took her brother's hand in her own. She smiled. The same kind of caring smile that Jeonghan often had. “With what? That you've landed yourself someone who is as amazing as Jisoo is? It's a relief, really. I was starting to get worried that you were a huge fuckboi and that was why you never had a steady girlfriend who you could introduce to me.” She looked over at Jisoo and then her face suddenly fell. Her brows furrowed together and she looked back at Jeonghan. “Wait a minute. Did you say the last year of _high school_!? So he's been your boyfriend for what? Three years!? How come you never told me!?”

“I just thought...maybe-” Jeonghan's voice cracked. Despite her overall positive reaction to him coming out, the built-up stress was still looking for ways to leave his body.

Jisoo placed his hand on top of Jeonghan's and his sister's, “The reason he hasn't told you or your parents before is because he's been afraid you wouldn't accept him being with a man.”

“Oh...oh I see.” Now she was starting to cry too. “I'm sorry. I don't know why you thought you couldn't tell me, but I'm sorry. I love you. You're the best big brother and I want you to be happy. I'm sure Mom and Dad will feel the same! Oh, and Jisoo. This must have been so hard for you too. I-” She inhaled sharply and sniffed loudly. “Look at us. Ugly crying in the middle of a coffee shop. I'm going to go fix my make-up and when I come back I want to hear more about how you two got together so if it isn't a cute story make one up.”

When she was gone Seungkwan hurried over with three pieces of cake. “Are you okay? I thought she took it well, but then everybody started to cry.”

Jeonghan nodded. “Yeah. No. It's good. I'm regretting doing it here though. People are staring.”

“Don't worry. Even when you're crying you're still more beautiful than most other people on earth. And at least here you get free cake from Mr. Hakyeon.”

“The owner?” Jisoo asked.

“Yeah. I sort of told him what was going on. I hope you don't mind.”

Jeonghan poked his fork into one of the pieces and took a big bite. “Tell him thanks.”

Seungkwan walked around and grabbed the both of them in a hug from behind. “I'm so proud of you.” He stood back up. “Now that I know you're going to be fine I really have to get going. I finally convinced Jihoon to come to musical rehearsal with me and Seok to see if he has any pointers. Eunkwang has been saying how he'd like a student assistant and I'd do it, but I think Jihoon would be better at it.”

“Why didn't you tell me sooner?” Jeonghan asked. “I can get Jihoon to do anything.”

“Hey I can handle it! And you were busy with...stuff.”

They smiled at each other and Seungkwan felt lighter than he had all day. He knew Jeonghan still had to tell his parents, but he and Jisoo were going to be okay. Maybe he didn't have to give up on love yet after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurray, we can still believe in love!
> 
> -The book reading piece of art will come back (can you guess who it is? I bet you can when I say it's the only member who hasn't been mentioned yet ...)  
> -Seokmin also plays in the musical, but Jihoon didn't want to. But he will end up helping behind the scenes  
> -Next time....oh next time will be something


	93. C1-17 Back it up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is going pretty good for Seungkwan and his friends. That is until Mingyu finds out what kind of person his newly acquired boyfriend really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I say a lot happens in one chapter...
> 
> Drunkenness will happen

Jeonghan and Jisoo seemed to be stronger than ever now that their biggest issue was no longer so big. Meanwhile Seungkwan had decided it wasn't his time for romance and was now fully focused on balancing his school work, his part-time job, and the upcoming musical. Everything was good. For a few weeks. It was about a month after Mingyu had talked to Hojin asking him to stop sleeping with others when Seungkwan came back to their room to find Mingyu aggressively doing push-ups.

“Well, this is unusual. You already have a boyfriend, there's no need to get all pumped like this before going to a party, you know.”

Mingyu let out a low grunt as he pushed himself up one more time. He stood up and wiped the sweat on his forehead on his arm. “What if I found that boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, in bed with someone else just before we were supposed to party together? Can I do push-ups so I don't put my hand through a wall in frustration then?”

Seungkwan's eyes widened. “Did that really happen?”

Mingyu nodded. “I went over to his room so we could get ready together and when I got there- He hadn't even locked his door. I just walked right in on him going at it with some dude.”

“Mingyu, I'm so sorry. What did he have to say for himself?”

“He said he was sorry-”

Seungkwan scoffed.

“-for forgetting that I was coming over.”

“That's it. If anyone ever says that homosexuality is a choice I'll just tell them about this. This guy had all this-” He waved his arms around at Mingyu, “-and he still cheated? Men are scum. Why would anyone voluntarily be into that.” He took the towel Mingyu was now using to dab at his sweat from him and started doing it for him. “You know what? You don't need him! I never liked him anyway!”

“You barely know him.” Mingyu mumbled.

“Exactly! Isn't that weird? I am your _best_ friend, aren't I? But every time you tried to get us to hang out he was always busy or unavailable. I'm just glad you found out now before you guys got even more serious.”

“I don't understand why he agreed to being boyfriends if he didn't really want to...”

“Maybe he had an ounce of sensibility and didn't want to completely lose you. Well, he screwed that up for himself. Don't you dare get back with him even if he begs!”

“I don't think he will. Honestly he didn't seem to care all that much when I said we were over.”

Seungkwan dabbed the towel gently on Mingyu's face. “You poor baby. Tell me what you need. Even if you ask me to go and punch him in the face. I'll do it.”

Mingyu sniffed. “Can we drink? Not out somewhere. Just here.”

“You got it. Go take a shower and I'll run down to the store to get us a bunch of drinks. Do you want to see if the guys are free?”

“Nah, just us is fine.”

<>

“Seungkwan!” Mingyu whined. “We don't have enough alcohol!” He tried and failed to crush an empty can. His frustrated grunt was followed by a high-pitched giggle.

“I have a great idea!” Seungkwan stood up on slightly wobbly legs. “Let's go to that party you were talking about and steal some of their booze!”

“Seungkwan, is that you? How drunk are you?”

“I'm not _that_ drunk! It serves them right!”

“You do know that it isn't actually Hojin who is throwing the party, right?”

“Do you want more booze or not? We'll just go in, grab a couple of beers or something and get out! Easy-peasy!”

“...lemon squeezy! Oh!” Mingyu clapped his hands together. “We should see if they have tequila!”

They made their way over to where the party was, their attempts to be inconspicuous failing due to the fact that they kept laughing and shushing each other.

“Shit. I forgot about Hojin. I don't want him to see me. I- Shit he saw me. Why am I so tall?” He grabbed Seungkwan by the arm. “Hurry. Kiss me.”

“What? Why?”

“He's looking over here! I want to make him jealous!”

“Let's take the high road on this one. He doesn't even deserve your attention. We just came to steal drinks so let's just do that. Why don't you go wait out in the hall and I'll be right back.”

“Fine.” Mingyu pouted and reluctantly walked away.

Seungkwan made his way over to the table in the back where most of the drinks seemed to be. He was just about to nonchalantly reach out for a bottle when a voice behind him greeted him with a casual _hey_. He turned around and furrowed his brows together in displeasure when he saw it had been Hojin. “What do you want?” he snapped.

“I saw you from across the room and I was hoping I could offer you a drink, but I see you can take care of yourself.”

“You were looking at _me_? Didn't you even see who I was with? Don't you know who I am?”

“I'd like to find out.”

“What did he even see in you!? I'm Seungkwan. Mingyu's roommate and best friend.”

“Mingyu? Oh, yeah, I thought I saw him. So? How about it?”

“How about what?” Every second talking to this guy made Seungkwan regret never following through with those karate lessons he had had as a kid.

“How about you and me get to know each other a little better?”

“I know all I need to know about you. Don't you feel sorry at all for cheating on him?”

“Look, like I said to Mingyu: I thought he just wanted me to stop telling him about when I hook-up with someone else. An ignorance is bliss kind of thing. It slipped my mind that he was coming over and I was busy with another guy. So what? If he wants to be uptight about it that's his problem.”

Seungkwan stared at this dumb guy's stupid face and if he had more confidence in his fighting skills (or perhaps if he was just a little bit drunker) he might have really punched him. Instead he stormed out of the room to find Mingyu. When he did, he grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him back inside.

“What are you doing? Where is the booze?”

“Change of plans. We're going to make-out so that Hojin can see what he'll be missing out on.”

“What about taking the high road?”

“Screw the high road. We're taking the dirt road.” He stopped about half-way down the room and pulled in Mingyu with both hands, clashing their lips together. With his eyes half-open he searched for Hojin to make sure they had his attention. He'd show him for hurting his best friend like this.

“Is he looking?” Mingyu mumbled against Seungkwan's lips.

“Yeah, I think so. Grab my ass.”

Mingyu pulled away, his hands on Seungkwan's hips. “What?”

Seungkwan sighed, “Just do it!” He took one of Mingyu's hands and placed it on his butt. He let his own hand slip under Mingyu's shirt. As their little public make-out session went on and got increasingly heavier Mingyu locked eyes with his ex who was staring at their display with a displeased frown. He pulled away from Seungkwan and took him by the hand. “I need some air.”

By the time they reached the exit into the cool night they were doubling over with laughter. “Did you see his face?” Seungkwan laughed loudly.

Mingyu pulled him closer and wrapped him in a hug. “The dirt road was a lot more satisfying than the high road. What made you change your mind?”

Seungkwan tangled their fingers together as they strolled to nowhere in particular. “When I was trying to steal us drinks he came over and started hitting on me. He didn't even recognize me as your roommate at first and when I told him he didn't seem to care...No offense, but why were you into him?”

Mingyu kicked a small stone out of his path. “Obviously I didn't know he was such an asshole. He was sweet when it was just us. Probably only because he wanted to have sex with me.” He stretched out his arms above his head, dragging Seungkwan up with him. “We should do something crazy.”

“Crazier than making out with a bunch of people watching us?”

“Yes!” He gasped and stopped in his tracks. “I got it! Come on!”

<>

Seungkwan flipped through the catalog of the tattoo parlor they were currently in. Had he been sober he would have never agreed to come to any tattoo parlor, let alone one open at this time at night. But as he was not sober and the rush of brazenly exchanging saliva was still running through his body, he had agreed that getting a tattoo was the crazy something they should do. He reached the final page and clicked his tongue. “I don't know what to get. It has to be pretty but also meaningful. What about you?”

“Hm. Maybe I'll get something cool like, eh, a skull or maybe something more elegant like a flower. Or maybe a cute d-”

“That's it! A flower! Flowers are pretty and have all sorts of meanings. Wait, aren't birth flowers a thing? Hold on.” He took out his phone from his pocket and started researching. “This is perfect! January has two flowers apparently and one of them is a Snowdrop which can symbolize hope and rebirth. A rebirth is just what I need. I'll be reborn as a Boo Seungkwan who isn't still hung up on his ex.”

Mingyu leaned over his shoulder to stare at his phone screen. “You're still hung up on Hansol?” he asked softly.

It was not something he wanted to admit. Not even to himself. But sometimes in alcohol there is truth. “Yeah. Very much so I'm afraid. I'm such a weakling.”

“You're not weak.” Mingyu said.

“Not after I get this rebirth tattoo I won't be! Now let's see...your birth flower is- Oh. Oh, no, you can't get this. Yours is a Daisy and it symbolizes innocence and purity.”

“And why can't I get that?”

“Because you are neither innocent nor pure.”

Mingyu stood up straight and puffed out his chest. “Oh yeah? Well, I'm getting it! It's _my_ birth flower and you can't tell me what to do with it! So you go and be reborn while I get mine.” He made an unsteady turn and directed his attention at the big guy behind the counter. “One Daisy tattoo for me please. Sir.”

<>

The sting of the needle had been enough to sober Seungkwan up quite a bit and he was a lot less giggly by the time he was finished. The same couldn't be said for his best friend who hopped out of there with a wide grin on his face. He turned around and lifted his shirt to reveal a tattoo of two small Daisies connected by a few elegant lines on his lower-back.

“Y-you got a tramp stamp...?”

“It's not a tramp stamp! It's a lower-back tattoo!” He let his shirt fall back over his skin. “Show me yours.”

“I'd rather not. Not here.” He felt a blush creep up his face.

“Oh my. Where did you get it? It's on your ass, isn't it?”

“It is not on my ass! Idiot. It's here.” He pointed at the right side of his pelvis. “I'll show you at home.”

They left the shady shop and outside Mingyu took Seungkwan's hand again. “Kwannie, I feel so giddy right now. I can't believe we just got tattoos and we totally showed Hojin that we're too hot for him to handle!” There was a bounce in his step and he happily swung their arms back and forth as they walked back to the dorms. “I know I already had one brilliant idea tonight, but I just had another one.”

“Oh yeah?” Seungkwan chuckled.

“Yeah. We should be each other's back-ups!”

“What's that?”

“You know, it's a pact between friends where they agree that if neither of them are married at a certain age they'll marry each other.”

“I guess it's better than becoming an old maid. Okay, deal. But if I get married before you do, you can't try to sabotage it just because you're still single.”

Mingyu stopped swinging their arms. “Why would I still be single when you get married? What if I get married first?”

“Then the deal is off. Right? Let's just agree that this deal only applies if we're both single at the age of...what's good?”

Mingyu shrugged. “Forty?”

“Forty!? What if we want to have kids? I don't want to wait until I'm forty!”

“Okay, thirty-five then.”

“Deal! Wait!” He stopped walking and pulled his hand free to get his phone out.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a note in my agenda.”

_Plan wedding if single_

“There. It's official. I wrote it down for when I turn thirty-five.”

{Back in their dorm room}

Seungkwan switched on his desk lamp and sat down on his bed. Mingyu sat down impossibly close next to him. “Show it to me. Your tattoo. You promised.”

“But it's all red and covered in plastic.”

“Just let me see it! You saw mine.”

“Fine.” Seungkwan reluctantly lay down on his back to make it easier. He undid his pants and pushed it out of the way only enough to reveal part of his hipbone where a fresh Snowdrop tattoo was etched into his soft skin.

Mingyu leaned in to get a better look at it. He gently lowered Seungkwan's pants just a little bit more. “It's kind of hot. The placement of it.”

Seungkwan sucked in a breath when he felt Mingyu's fingertips lightly touching the surrounding skin not covered by protective plastic. “Y-your hands are cold.”

Mingyu looked up at him. “Sorry.” He crawled up with his hands on either side of Seungkwan. “I had a lot of fun tonight.” he whispered.

“I did too.”

Mingyu smiled and leaned down to kiss him. Seungkwan kissed back. A kind of anticipation started to surface in his stomach and he wondered how drunk he still was. He cringed a little when Mingyu placed a hand on his hip and accidentally touched the sore skin. Mingyu pulled back and they stared at each other. Mingyu smiled softly and leaned in again to place a soft peck on Seungkwan's lips. He lowered himself down to lay his head down on the other man's chest. “Good night, Kwannie.”

Seungkwan wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulders. “Good night.” he whispered back with the feeling in his stomach still there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Bye Hojin. You won't be missed (not even by Mingyu)  
> \- I just...really wanted to give Mingyu a tramp stamp (and while I actually don't think Seungkwan is the type to get a tattoo, he was drunk and like he said still dealing with getting over Hansol)  
> \- Will they remember everything the next morning?  
> \- Did Seungkwan think they were going to do more? Did he want to? Why did Mingyu stop? Wha-
> 
> (This was kind of what I was thinking for their tattoos. Mingyu's is...eh... http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s0xSPNHdLCk/T8OLBlC-SZI/AAAAAAAADX0/wDp9CF06_1g/s1600/00478_9.JPG   
> Seungkwan: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ea/aa/b7/eaaab7975eaa9c5c6387c16f864b190d.jpg Kinda like this but just one and mirrored from this image.)


	94. C1-18 Awkward?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan feels a little awkward after the night he had with Mingyu. Mingyu no longer thinks the things he came up with in his drunken state were as brilliant as he did then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea what to name this chapter -_-
> 
> So sorry for not replying to the comments on the last chapter! I just found it hard to comment without confirming or denying things. Please know that every comment makes my day brighter (although I am making people suffer with the unknown...)!

Seungkwan woke up with a throbbing headache and a mouth drier than the Sahara dessert. He groaned as he opened his eyes and let light in. He felt the warmth coming off the body next to him. Mingyu was asleep on his stomach, the smell of alcohol clouded around him. Seungkwan sat up with another groan and let his legs dangle off the side of his bed. He must have kicked of his pants some time during the night because he was in his boxers. He had no sense of time and he had trouble remembering all of yesterday. He had come home to find Mingyu upset over Hojin and they had gotten drunk. That much he was certain of. He rubbed his temples and flashes of him and Mingyu making out in the middle of a crowded room went through his mind. He also remembered laughing. A lot. What had they done after that? Gone back to their room? No, he was pretty sure that they were outside at some point and- Oh, shit. He lifted his shirt and stared at his right hip. “Guess I didn't dream that,” he mumbled. He looked back at Mingyu. If _he_ had gotten a tattoo, did that mean that Mingyu's tattoo also wasn't a drunk dream he had?

Slowly he reached out and lifted Mingyu's shirt. He let it drop back with a little yelp squeaking out his mouth. He didn't know whether to cry or laugh at Mingyu's lower-back tattoo of cute little daisies.

Mingyu groaned just like Seungkwan had and opened his eyes. “What's going on?” he asked with a hoarse voice. “Where am I?”

“In our room.”

“Is this your bed?” He stared up at Seungkwan for a few seconds and blinked slowly. “Oh yeah,” he said like he just remembered. “Guess we got a little crazy last night.” He made a weak attempt to push himself up, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it and let himself fall back down. “But not too crazy.”

“Well...”

“Hm? What?”

“How much do you remember?”

“Just that I got cheated on, we got drunk, you and I kissed in front of him, we took a walk or something, then we came back here where we kissed a bit more and then fell asleep.”

“We did more than _take a walk or something_.”

Mingyu rolled onto his back and that's when the tattoo parlor came back to him. He shot up and got out of bed. He yanked off his shirt and tried to get a good view of his back in the mirror. “Oh my g- Why did you let me get a tramp stamp!?”

“I- You didn't even tell me where you were going to get it! It was all _your_ idea! Besides, didn't you say that it's not a tramp stamp but a lower-back tattoo?”

“Who are we kidding with that? It's a fucking tramp stamp! What other stupid ideas did I have last night?”

“ _We should be each other's back-ups! You know, it's a pact between friends where they agree that if neither of them are married at a certain age they'll marry each other.”_

Seungkwan remembered, but he didn't bring it up. Instead he picked up Mingyu's shirt from the floor and threw it at him. “It's not so bad! Really. It's just still red and a bit swollen. It'll look better in a few days.”

“You think so? Man, I can't believe how drunk we must have been.”

“Yeah. Now can you please go shower and brush your teeth. You smell awful.”

“Right back at you.”

<>

As the days passed Seungkwan let the events of that night slowly leave his mind. He didn't ask Mingyu about their back up deal and he tried not to think about the way the night had ended. It took him a few days to shake the feeling of awkwardness he felt around his best friend, but after realizing that Mingyu didn't seem to have this problem he convinced himself there was nothing to feel weird about. So they had made out, (including hands roaming to places previously untouched), they had sort of promised to marry each other, and for a second there he thought they were maybe going to have sex. So what? He was sure lots of best friends went through stuff like that. Maybe some of their other friends had made similar deals with each other. No big deal.

The thing that really put his thoughts about Mingyu to rest for the time being was the man he was currently making an order for. It was the same one Mingyu had previously referred to as art. He had become somewhat of a regular around the coffeehouse (although he usually ordered tea), but today was the first time he had come again when Mingyu and Seungkwan were working the same shift. Seungkwan had forgotten the way Mingyu had ogled him the first time, but he noticed it again today.

“Here you go,” he said when he placed the order of hot lemon tea and a lavender scone onto a small tray and handed it to him with a smile. He could see Mingyu trying to be subtle with his stares from where he was wiping down a table.

“Thanks, Seungkwan,” the customer spoke and Mingyu's eyes widened. He speed walked over to the counter.

“He knows your name!?” he asked in a hushed voiced. “How? Since when?”

“First of all, we wear name tags.” Seungkwan answered at a normal volume. He emphasized the obvious by tapping his tag with his finger. “Second of all, he comes here quite often and I like to know our regulars so one day I talked to him a bit.”

“You didn't!”

“Why are you freaking out? I talk to people all the time.” He knew why Mingyu was freaking out. It was kind of adorable to see him like this really.

“Do you...” Mingyu started suddenly shy. “...know his name?”

“Yup.” Seungkwan said and didn't elaborate further. Instead he changed the topic. “About the musical, you're sure you don't mind that I invited Wonwoo? He messaged me earlier and he said he'd come.” Since he met Wonwoo a few months ago they had kept in touch a little bit through text and, with Mingyu's go-ahead, he had invited him to the musical he was set to perform in. With Seokmin playing the lead Soonyoung was sure to brag to anyone with ears about it, so Seungkwan was sure Wonwoo would find out about it anyway.

“As long as I don't have to sit next to him.”

“Is it still okay if he brings his boyfriend?”

“Well, you couldn't invite him and tell him he couldn't bring his boyfriend. He'd think it's because of me and that I still have feelings for him or something. Which I don't.”

The way he had his lips pressed together told Seungkwan that he wasn't thrilled about the idea of having his ex there with his new love and that he could do without having to talk to either of them.

“I'll make sure that wherever his seat is it's far away from you.” He picked up one of the flyers for the musical that Hakyeon had put in their rack of magazines and announcements of local events and held it out to Mingyu. “Why don't you go and ask Minghao if he wants to come.”

“Who?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “Who do you think?”

Mingyu looked over at the table where he was sitting. “His name is Minghao?”

“Yes. Now are you going to ask him or not?”

“No. Why would I randomly ask someone to go to a musical with me? He's going to think I'm weird.”

“Or he's going to think that you're asking him out. It's so obvious you have a crush on him.”

“Lower your voice!” he hissed. “I'm not going to ask him so just let it go.”

“I don't get you, Mingyu! All year I've watched you talk to plenty of guys so why can't you talk to one you actually like? You don't even have to ask him to go _with_ you. You can just let him know about the musical.”

“Because...the last guy I really liked turned out to be a complete asshole. I'm not ready to find out that the artwork is a forgery.”

“Well, I'm still going to ask him. We worked hard on this and I'd like an audience. He's into art and stuff so he might enjoy it.” He picked up a pitcher of water and walked over to Minghao's table with the flyer in hand. “Everything alright over here? Let me fill up your water.”

“Thank you. Everything's fine.”

Seungkwan placed the flyer on the table. “If you like you should come to the musical I'm in. It's at the end of next week.”

“Oh, eh, sure. Will you be there? I mean, of course you will be. Thank you.” He looked the flyer over for a second. “Are any other Grind workers in it?” His eyes shifted to the counter where Mingyu was and back. It was only a second but Seungkwan caught it.

“No, but some of them will be in the audience.”

“Okay. I'll try to come.”

“Great.” He walked back to the counter and lightly patted Mingyu on the back. He hadn't liked Hojin and most other guys that had come and gone over the last year hadn't stuck around long enough for Seungkwan to get to know them, but maybe this one could be different. Minghao felt different. And if not, he just needed to wait until he was thirty-five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -They will eventually talk about that night again (in a few chapters actually)  
> -And now everybody has FINALLY been at least mentioned (Jun has been mentioned, but hasn't made an actual appearance yet)  
> -Speaking of 'everybody' a new character will come join the party next time (what? Who? All SVT members have been introduced?)  
> -Will Mingyu talk to Minghao? Will he talk to Wonwoo? Does he remember the deal he made with Seungkwan?
> 
> Teaser: a certain someone is home for the summer in about 2 chapters


	95. C1-19 Meetings at a Musical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan meets several people for the first time at the musical/after-party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh I had trouble getting this chapter out >.< Happy late Carat birthday!

Slowly the seats started to fill with audience members and Seungkwan was looking around to see if he could find Wonwoo. Soonyoung had come backstage to wish them luck and told them they had arrived together. It didn't take long to spot him as he was quite tall and the man he was with was of equal height. He was just about to approach them when Mingyu, not aware of the presence of his ex, walked over with Seungkwan's mother.

“Mom! You made it!” He hugged her in greeting and as he did made eye contact with Mingyu. He mouthed ' _Wonwoo_ ' and jerked his head slightly in their direction. Judging from the way Mingyu's face contorted he figured he saw him across the room.

“Well, Seungkwan, you must be getting ready soon, right? I'll take your mother over to pick some good seats. Okay, bye then. See you after.” Mingyu placed a gentle hand on Seungkwan's mother's back and guided her away from her son. Just in time because Wonwoo and the other tall man were walking over.

“Hey!” Seungkwan greeted them. “Thank you for coming!”

“Thank you for inviting me.” Wonwoo smiled. “We're a bit early but Soonyoung insisted. He hasn't been able to stop talking about his leading role boyfriend. Speaking of...This is Jun.”

Seungkwan smiled at Wonwoo's boyfriend, who seemed rather nervous. “Nice to meet you. I'm Seungkwan. I used to go to high school with Wonwoo.”

“Nice to meet you, too. And I know. He told me all about you.”

Seungkwan wondered what kind of things Wonwoo had told him and he realized he knew nothing about this guy. He had never really asked Wonwoo for details. “So, Jun, what do you do?”

“I'm studying software engineering. Nothing fancy. Oh, and I just got a small hot dog machine for my room, so I've got that going on.”

Seungkwan didn't know him well enough to know if he was joking or what and the lack of reaction on Wonwoo's face told him nothing. “That's...great.”

“Seungkwan, is Mingyu avoiding me?” Wonwoo asked suddenly. “I thought I could say hi.”

“No, no, he's not avoiding you! He's, eh...doing something.” Not very convincing since Wonwoo had most likely just seen Mingyu walk away.

“Right.” Wonwoo replied dryly.

“It's because I'm here, isn't it?” Jun asked without expecting Seungkwan to answer. He turned to Wonwoo. “I told you. I told you that if you wanted to talk to him I shouldn't be here. Who wants to meet their ex with his new boyfriend?”

Wonwoo raised one eyebrow and stared at him as if to say 'Are you kidding me _?'_.

“I know I'm not one to talk, but-”

“You know-” Seungkwan interrupted. He wanted to change the subject away from exes. “There's a kind of after-party if you guys want to stick around a little longer after the show. There will be faculty members there so it won't be anything wild, but-”

“Seungkwan, I'm sorry, but a friend of ours goes here and we made plans to have dinner with him later. I- Maybe next time.”

Despite of the fact that they had been in contact there was still a sense of distance to be bridged, but tonight was not the night for that it seemed. Jun nudged Wonwoo's arm, but he mouthed a silent ' _it's fine_ _'_ to him and Seungkwan decided not to press on. Maybe it was for the best.

Soonyoung appeared from backstage and walked over. “Minnie told me to tell you that Jihoon told him that you have to get in costume.”

Seungkwan nodded. He smiled at Wonwoo and Jun. “I'm glad you guys could come. Enjoy the show! Soonyoung, don't just stare at Seok the whole time, okay? The rest of us worked hard to.”

“I'll promise to look at others whenever he's not on stage. But seeing as he has the _lead_ role he'll-”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes with a sigh and walked away.

{Backstage}

He searched the seats and spotted his mother sitting with Mingyu on her one hand and Jeonghan on the other chatting cheerfully. He had never seen his mom talk to Jeonghan before, but it looked like they were getting along. Next to him were Chan, Jisoo, and Seungcheol. But not everybody was sitting together. Soonyoung was sitting to the left and a few rows back. He also recognized Seokmin's older sister, but he didn't recognize the young woman next to her. Judging from the way she was talking to Soonyoung so casually and their similar smile she was probably his sister. Next to Soonyoung were Wonwoo and Jun and- Shit. Why was Minghao sitting so close to them? Now Mingyu was definitely not going to talk to him. Seungkwan sighed. Nothing he could do about that now. At least he could easily avoid Wonwoo if he wanted to. He straightened up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You ready?” Seokmin asked. “Jihoon says we're on in five minutes.”

“Why is he even back here? He knows he can just watch from the audience, right? He's not even the director. Professor Eunkwang is right there.”

Seokmin shrugged. “You know how he is. He needs stuff he works on to be perfect. So, are you ready?”

“Yeah, I'm good. You? Are you nervous?”

“I'm so nervous...But also excited! I want to make everybody proud.”

Seungkwan nudged his shoulder with a grin on his face. “You mean Soonyoung.”

Seokmin beamed, “Him too.”

{After-party}

By the time the cast and crew were all done cleaning up and getting out of their make-up and costumes the after-party was already well on its way. It was a small event meant for the people involved in the musical and those they invited. Seungkwan walked in with Seokmin and they were greeted by their family members and most of their friends. True to his word he didn't see Wonwoo around. Soonyoung immediately latched onto his boyfriend's arm and stared at him with heart-eyes.

“You were both so great! I had no idea my little brother was _this_ talented.” Seokmin's sister said.

Soonyoung's sister nodded in agreement. “Really amazing. But it would have been even better if a certain someone wasn't mumbling along the whole time. You'd think he was your understudy or something.”

Seokmin chuckled shyly. “He practiced lines with me.”

Seungkwan was glad to have a little more time to talk with his mother, but she couldn't stay long. He made sure she got safely to her car and when he got back Jeonghan pulled him aside. “Have you seen Jihoon? I haven't seen him all night.”

“I don't know. He was backstage with us during the show. He said he'd catch up with us, but maybe he changed his mind and just went to his room.”

“Why do I feel like he's avoiding me? Or someone at least.”

“Maybe you're just too needy,” Seungkwan joked.

“Mean. But you're right. I am needy. Come here.” He wrapped Seungkwan in a hug. “You did so good tonight, Kwannie. I also had a nice talk with your mother.”

“Ehm, about what?”

“About what a wonderful son you are.” Jeonghan patted his head. “Oh, before I forget. A friend of Jisoo's parents has a beach house and he said we can use it for a few days in the summer vacation. All we have to do is air the place out and sweep the deck so it's all ready when he and his family go. Anyway, we thought it might be nice to have our traditional sleepover there. Kind of combine our sleepover with the beach trip we had last year.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Great.” Jeonghan still had his arm around Seungkwan's shoulder but he let go when he noticed a boy throwing them curious glances. More specifically, he kept staring at Seungkwan. “If you will excuse me, I'll make another attempt at finding the elusive Lee Jihoon.” He leaned in and whispered, “And it looks like somebody wants to talk to you.”

Seungkwan's eyes landed on the young man Jeonghan was talking about. He watched him walk over.

“I think you're friend noticed that I was looking for an opportunity to come talk to you,” the man said. “You were really something up there. The musical, I mean.”

Seungkwan looked at him carefully, taking him in. His whole face was a smile. He couldn't remember having talked to him before. “Oh, ehm, thanks.”

“You have a really nice voice. I could probably listen to it for days.”

A shy little laugh left Seungkwan's mouth and he was starting to catch on to the fact that this man was flirting with him.

“You work at that coffee shop, right? The Grind?”

“I do! How did you know?”

“I think I've seen you working there. I go there sometimes. I don't think you've ever noticed me though.”

“Well, I'll be sure to pay better attention from now on.” Seungkwan thought it was strange how he could have missed someone with a smile that was as bright as Seokmin's.

“I'm Bin by the way. Moon Bin.”

“Seungkwan. Boo.”

“So, Seungkwan, how do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Be so cute and sexy at the same time.”

Seungkwan blinked his eyes a few times. The happy smile had turned into a playful flirty grin. Seungkwan liked to think that pick-up lines didn't really work on him, but they did. The biggest challenge was flirting back. He didn't have a whole lot of experience in the singles arena. “It just comes naturally to me I guess.” He replied with fake arrogance hoping that it would be interpreted as such.

“In that case I will be sure to thank Mother Nature on my next hike.” There was a moment of silence where they both just smiled at each other and Seungkwan felt a light flutter in his stomach. Who exactly was this guy?

“So, eh, do you know somebody who was in the musical or something?”

“No, but my roommate thought it would be fun. He was right. I wasn't really sure if this party was just cast, crew, and friends, but nobody asked me for an invitation or anything so I figured it was okay.” He leaned in a little. “Or are you going to kick me out?”

“Hmm,” Seungkwan hummed like he was considering it. “I'll allow it.”

“Great.”

They both laughed. Bin asked him about how he got involved in the musical, what his favorite coffee was, and the conversation really started flowing when they hit the topic of their favorite music. They only stopped talking when a young man, who looked vaguely familiar, suddenly interrupted them.

“So sorry, but Bin we have a situation back at the dorm.” He leaned in and whispered something in his ear. He gave Seungkwan a small nod and started walking away.

Bin looked at Seungkwan, “I'm sorry, that was my roommate. One of our friends has a really crappy boyfriend and she tried to break-up with him and- well, I really have to go.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I hope everything's okay.”

“Thanks. Bye.”

Seungkwan's brain wasn't even registering that he was watching him walk away until he was snapped out of his trance by Mingyu's hand on his shoulder. “Who was that?” he asked with a wide grin.

“No-one,” Seungkwan mumbled. “Just...a nice guy.”

“Did you get his number?”

“No.”

“Did you give him yours? Tell me you did.”

“No,” Seungkwan said and he shrugged Mingyu's hand off.

“Why not?” Mingyu groaned. “He was totally into you and you were also into him, I could tell.”

“Oh yeah? You could tell from the fifteen minutes I was talking to him?”

“Fifteen minutes? Dude, you were talking to him for like an hour.”

“You're exaggerating.”

“I am not. It was _at least_ that long. Why can't you just admit that you liked him?”

“You're one to talk. Have you talked to Minghao yet?”

“I- Don't change the subject! I didn't have the opportunity. He's not here and at the musical I was...”

“Busy avoiding Wonwoo? He asked about you by the way. He said he wanted to say hi. His boyfriend told him off for thinking anyone would want to talk to their ex with their new boyfriend by their side.”

“He sounds smart.”

Seungkwan sighed. “Fine, I'll admit it. I liked talking to him. I liked him. But he had to leave and I guess we both forgot to exchange contacts. But he said he goes to The Grind sometimes so maybe I'll see him again.” He hoped he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I thought it would be nice if SeokSoon's sisters came to watch the show  
> -Jihoon IS avoiding someone (but it's not Jeonghan)  
> -I hope you guys like Mr. Moon Bin because he'll be back  
> -Speaking of back...guess who's home for the summer? (I almost wanted to say that this chapter was the first time OT13 was together in the same room but then I realized that Hansol isn't there....sad)  
> -I know I don't write a lot about their college life (like studying and stuff, but...eh...they study. Seungkwan more than Mingyu)


	96. C1-20 Tomorrow For Sure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan has successfully survived his first year as a college student and the summer can begin! He's finishing his last shift at The Grind before heading home to spend time with his family when someone he wasn't expecting shows up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may notice a change in formatting (for the better I hope). I will eventually go back and change all the previous chapters as well, but seeing as there are 95(!) it might take me a while to get around to it.

All papers had been written, all exams had been passed. His first year of college was officially over and the summer vacation could begin. His plans for the summer weren’t all that exciting. He was going to spend some time with his family, go to the beach with his friends, and earn some extra money working at the coffeehouse The family time was supposed to come first and he had been set to leave his dorm for a few weeks when he was asked to fill in for a co-worker suddenly. 

He hung his apron in his locker at the end of the shift he had taken over and checked his phone. Mingyu was already on vacation with his family and on occasion he’d send him pictures. Nothing yet today. He walked by the office and knocked on the side of the open door. “Mr. Hakyeon? I’ll be leaving now.”

“Thank you, Seungkwan. Enjoy your vacation and I’ll see you in a few weeks. Feel free to grab a muffin on the way out.”

Seungkwan nodded with a smile. He loved his barista gig, but he was looking forward to a few weeks of nothing (not in the last place because he had been hoping to see Bin again but he hadn’t come). He walked out into the shop and tapped his co-worker, Mingi, on the shoulder. “You’ll be away on vacation when I get back, right?” he asked.

The other boy sighed. “Yes. I don’t think we’ll see much of each other until the school year starts again.”

“Aw, you’ll miss me?” Seungkwan joked.

Mingi smiled. “Only if you’ll miss me too. Enjoy your vacation.” He gestured towards the shop floor. “Some of your friends are here, by the way. At least I think they’re your friends.”

Seungkwan hadn’t been expecting to see anyone today. As far as he knew Jihoon was the only one still at the dorms and he almost never came here. When he saw who was sitting at the table in the middle of the store he froze. Jisoo was looking at him with wide, panicked eyes. But it wasn’t Jisoo’s presence that made his mind go blank. The person responsible for that was the last person he had expected or wanted to see here. That person had his back to him, but Seungkwan knew who it was. That person was Hansol.

Was this why Jisoo had texted him yesterday, asking if he would be working today? His answer had been no since he wasn’t supposed to work. He wasn’t called in until later. And it felt like a cruel twist of fate that he would be here today. Of all days.

“Seungkwan, are you alright?” Mingi asked.

Hansol turned around in his chair and their eyes met. Seungkwan wanted to disappear. He wanted to evaporate right then and there. Instead he got out from behind the counter and dashed toward the door. From the corner of his eye he saw Jisoo standing up, but he ignored him. He might have said something but Seungkwan didn’t hear it. He ran to the bus stop. He completely forgot that most of his clothes were still in his room and with nothing but his wallet and phone he got on the bus that would take him home to his mother’s apartment.

A few months ago he would have definitely broken down crying as soon as he was alone. Maybe even before that. Maybe he would have cried on the bus. But not now. His heart was racing, his hands were shaking slightly, but he didn’t cry. He ignored the messages from Jisoo pouring in on his phone. He hadn’t calmed down when he arrived home. He considered calling Mingyu, but he didn’t want to bother him on his vacation. His mother wasn’t home yet and he let himself sink down onto the couch. He leaned his head back and stared at the white ceiling. He had his phone in his hand and he felt it buzz. His screen lit up with an incoming call from Jisoo. He answered.

_“Seungkwan? I am so sorry. I thought you weren’t going to be there. I—”_

“Why was he there?”

_“He’s home for the summer and— He said he was curious about the coffeehouse and I didn’t think—”_

“Well, think next time.” Seungkwan was about to hang up when Jisoo rushed to say something else.

_“Is he with you?”_

“What do you mean is he with me? Of course not. Did you not see me running out of there?”

_“But he followed you. He left almost right after you, so I thought...Are you at home or your dorm?”_

“I’m not telling you. Wherever I am he is not and I’d like to keep it that way.” He hung up. He threw his phone aside and stared at the ceiling again. He had followed him out? What for? How far did he go? If he really left right after him he could have seen him get on the bus, but he wasn’t here so clearly he hadn’t followed him home.

“ _Promise me that we'll spend our anniversary together in person again next year.”_

 _“Of course_.” 

Words that were, ironically, spoken exactly one year ago today. Seungkwan turned his head to the side and stared in the direction of his bedroom. He stood up and went in. He pulled out his deskchair and sat down. He stared at the drawer. Slowly he pulled it open. Inside was the photo album Hansol had given him for the two-year anniversary. 

When they broke up Seungkwan hadn’t wanted to keep it at his dormroom, but he also couldn’t bring himself to throw it away. He took it out and ran a finger along the edge of it before opening it. He stared at their names written in Hansol’s handwriting. He turned the page. He wasn’t sure when it started but as he continued to turn over the pages tears began falling down his cheeks. He slammed the album shut when he reached the last page, the one with their polaroid hotel selfies. He threw it back into the drawer and slammed it shut. He aggressively wiped his tears away with the side of his hand.

“Dammit,” he cursed. “Dammit, dammit, dammit!” He hated how much it still affected him. Shouldn’t he be passed this stage by now? He so badly wanted to not care. He wanted to feel nothing but indifference towards anything to do with his ex-boyfriend. But he still cried, his friends still avoided the topic for his sake, he still thought about him more times than he wanted to admit. He went to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. “Pathetic,” he mumbled. As he looked himself in the eye a spark of determination was lit. Starting tomorrow he would forget about Hansol Vernon Chwe. Tomorrow. For sure.

The doorbell rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -coincidence or fate?  
> -How wrong was Jisoo here? He made sure Seungkwan wasn't going to be there (well he tried to make sure anyway), but should he just have been honest?  
> -btw Chan has graduated high school and they attended his graduation
> 
> Stay tuned...


	97. C1-21 Non-anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When his past shows up on his doorstep Seungkwan feels like he's right back where he was all those months ago. Angry, confused, and weak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's angst all over the place again

He peeked trough the spyhole and saw Hansol standing outside his door. Seungkwan watched as he moved from and to the door a few times, lifting his hand like he was trying to decide whether he should ring the bell a second time. It wasn’t until Hansol finally turned around to walk away that Seungkwan’s hand moved to open the door. He didn’t say a word but the sound was enough to make his ex turn back around and look him in the eye. His hair was slightly longer and styled in a different way, but other than that it was the same Hansol. Except that this one wasn’t the one who had confessed to him over orange juice, the one he had shared all the most intimate moments of his life with, the one who had been his. This was the one who had broken his heart.

“Hey,” Hansol said. Seungkwan didn’t reply. “I’m— It’s summer vacation.”

Seungkwan still didn’t say anything. What was he expecting anyway?  _ Yes, it is summer vacation. I’m aware of that, Hansol. _

“Jisoo said you weren’t going to be there and you had told me such great things about the place and I—” He took a step closer. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today, but there you were. How, eh, how are you?”

_ How am I!? Angry, confused, weak _ . “I’m great, actually.”

Hansol nodded and awkwardly chewed on his bottom lip. When it was clear that Seungkwan had no intention to return the question he continued. “I know it’s weird that I’m here suddenly, but I didn’t think I’d see you today. Like I said, Jisoo said you wouldn’t be there and I just wanted to see the place I guess, since you had made it sound so nice. But when I did see you...Do you know what day it is toda—”

“Don’t,” Seungkwan spat. “Just don’t.”

“Seungkwan...I really hadn’t planned this, but don’t you agree that it’s somewhat of an amazing coincidence that we run into each other today? On our anni—”

“Shut up! I told you not to say it! And it isn’t. People usually don’t continue to celebrate their anniversary after breaking up, you know!”

“I know that, I’m not an idiot.”

“So why exactly are you here then?” 

“I just thought we could talk or something.”

“Ooh, you want to talk,” he said sarcastically and his hands flailing about. All pretence that he was fine went out the window. “Do you want to talk about how you stomped all over my heart or about how you suddenly show up to mess with my head? Or maybe you thought that I’d be all alone and pathetic without you and you just wanted to see if you could get lucky?”

“What? No, of course not. I just—”

“Well, forget it!” Seungkwan continued as if Hansol hadn’t even said anything. “You know I—”  _ have slept with other guys, yes, plural _ he continued in his head, but he stopped himself before he actually let the words out. What would be the point? What if he’d yell back how many people he has been with since their break-up. More than wanting to let Hansol know just how fine he was doing without him, Seungkwan didn’t want to know how fine Hansol was doing without him.

Hansol let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “No. I thought we could just talk. I don’t know. I— Just...forget it.”

Seungkwan, huffing with anger, watched Hansol turn around and he was about to slam the door shut when he noticed something. He yanked the door back open and yelled “Wait!” He took a step out and stared down at Hansol’s wrist. “Why are you still wearing that? Take it off!”

Hansol looked at the anniversary present from one year ago and back at Seungkwan.

“Take. It. Off!” Seungkwan repeated slowly. “You have no right to still be wearing that. I gave that to you because I loved you it’s—” He looked at the way Hansol’s brows furrowed together slightly as if he was trying to comprehend what he was saying. “It’s meaningless now.” 

“Is it?” Hansol asked. His face was as if written in a foreign script because Seungkwan couldn’t decipher what was going on behind his stare. “It’s not meaningless to me.”

“You can’t do this!” Seungkwan yelled. Whatever was about to come out of Hansol’s mouth next he felt it was better not to hear it. “You can’t just—” In all his frustration he took the two steps that it took to get close enough to Hansol to be able to reach his wrist and tried to take it off for him, but Hansol wouldn’t let him. He pulled his arm back. Seungkwan reached again, but when he was about to make a third attempt he collected himself. “Fine,” he mumbled. “Do whatever you want. See if I care.” He looked up and found himself much closer to Hansol’s piercing stare than he could handle. Just now did he realize how close their bodies were. He could feel the warmth radiating from the other man’s skin. His heartbeat was rapidly increasing and his mind went blank in the silent seconds that followed. It was hard to tell which one of them leaned in first, but their lips connected all the same. 

Seungkwan took a step back with his mouth still attached to his ex-boyfriend, effectively dragging him along towards the inside of the apartment. But when he stepped over the threshold it was as if a spell was broken. His initial instinct to tangle his fingers in Hansol’s hair got kicked out of his head by the more rational part of his brain and he instead used his hands to push him off. With the tips of his fingers still weakly placed against Hansol’s chest and his eyes cast down he whispered “Leave.”

“Seungkwan…”

His head shot up and he looked at the man he had loved so much with angry tears stinging his eyes. “I said leave! Get out!” This time his push was more effective and Hansl stumbled backwards. Before their eyes could meet again Seungkwan threw the door close with a loud bang. He leaned against it with his left hand while he pressed his right to his mouth to suppress a sob. “Please leave,” he whispered to himself.

\+ + +

He knew his mother could tell something was off, but thankfully she also understood he didn’t feel like talking about it. After dinner he took a bath and told her he was going to bed early. He checked his phone like he always did before going to bed. He had been expecting some messages from Mingyu about his day and a concerned string of messages from Jeonghan was also no surprise (judging from the lack of messages from his other friends he supposed he was the only one Jisoo had told). There was one chat, however, that had found its way back from oblivion to the top of the list. The chat with Hansol that had disappeared to the bottom in the months since the break-up had been jolted back to life.

_ I’m sorry about today. The coffee shop, showing up at your house...all of it. I don’t really even know why I came. Not to make you mad or hurt you. You know that, right?  _

Seungkwan stared at the message. Was he expecting a reply or was it all just empty words anyway? Hansol was only here for the summer. The only possible outcome of letting him back into his life was ending up alone again. The message had been sent over an hour ago but it only took a minute after Seungkwan had seen it for Hansol to start typing another message. Had he been waiting? Seungkwan looked at the three dots dancing around at the bottom of the chat only to disappear again. They did their little dance a dozen times over. It was frustrating to watch. He opened his chat with Jeonghan. Instead of replying by text he decided to call him.

“ _ Seungkwan? Where are you?” _

Seungkwan smiled at the concern in Jeonghan’s voice. He pushed himself backwards over his bed until his back was resting against the wall. “I’m home,” he replied. “You don’t have to worry.”

“ _ Really? Are you okay? I was  _ this _ close to coming over or calling everybody you know.” _

“I’m...okay. Can you not tell Mingyu? He’s having fun on vacation and he’d just worry.”

“ _ Of course. _ ” It was quiet for a few seconds. “ _ Seungkwan? Did he really not come to you? Jisoo got an ear full by the way! Even an amoeba could have understood Hansol had no right to go there. Even if he thought you wouldn’t be there _ .”

“Don’t be too mad at him. Jisoo, I mean. I was mad too, but...I don’t like being mad at him and I know he didn’t have bad intentions.” Seungkwan pulled up his blanket. “Are you going to meet with him?” Seungkwan wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t be at all surprised if Jeonghan, Jihoon, and Dino (aka ‘the rooftopper’) wanted to meet up with Hansol. “Can you do me one favor? Don’t talk about me with him and don’t talk about him with me. It’s easier for me to pretend he’s still far away. He will be again in a few weeks anyway.”

_ “I promise I won’t bring him up again after this, but...are you sure you don’t want to talk with him? Jisoo said he still feels bad about the way you two ended…” _

“You know what I want? Instead of talking about how we broke up, I just want it to be actually finished.”

_ “But maybe if you talk about it with him—” _

“Jeonghan, I love you but please shut up. Have a good night. I’m going to sleep now.” He hung up. It looked like Hansol had finally gotten around to sending another message.

_ When I said the bracelet wasn’t meaningless I just meant that it will always mean something to me, but if it makes you uncomfortable I’ll take it off… _

“ _ Something…” _ Seungkwan mulled over the word in his head. He wasn’t about to do this to himself, going over every tiny detail of Hansol’s words and actions and what they could mean. 

**Block Hansol? Blocked contacts will no longer be able to call you or send you messages.**

**BLOCK**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- fun (?) fact: I hadn't planned for them to kiss, but IT JUST HAPPENED...what can I say...like Seungkwan I am weak  
> \- not an amoeba  
> \- the reason he hadn't actually blocked Hansol before was that he didn't send any messages so he wasn't bothered by still having him in his contacts so much  
> \- Seungkwan is right...the rooftop peeps were planning to meet up (could SOMEBODY have told Seungkwan that Hansol was going to be in town!? They were just trying to shield him...).   
> \- Hmm next time...beach time? With some reminiscing, new memories to be made and a surprising bedroom situation (beach will 1 or 2 chaps and I think that will conclude College 1...maybe a short flashforward after that...)


End file.
